Recently planted some Bush Bean Dragon tongue wax in my garden and they started out doing great. The plants themselves have turned very light green/yellow and I am not sure how to diagnose the problem. I recently spread blood meal around the base of the roots but am wondering if this could be caused from overwatering? Heres a picture, thanks in advanced. I am gardening in arizona and the temps have been low of ~55 and highs of ~85 if that helps.
The cold temperatures could be the problem.
It takes awhile for blood meal to break down into a form that can be used by your plants, but I think you are on the right track.
It does look like low nitrogen or low P or K.
You might try a little soluble fertilizer to help them recover faster than the blood meal does. They don't look like they are suffering severely (yet).
I wonder whether blood meal on the surface needs water to help it break down. Soil microbes can't reach it if it is perched on top of mulch, and worms might n ot go there if it is dry.
If that is dripline watering, the water might bypass the surface, leave the blood meal dry, and never extract any Nitrogen or organic matter. Maybe a few sprayers are in order, until the blood meal breaks down?
Or maybe gently rake the blood meal into the top inch or so of soil so microbes can reach it ... while avoiding the bean roots.
Say, if you did not apply bean innoculent before sowing, I wonder if it might not be too late. It looks like coarse soil: maybe you could sprinkle some rhizobia powder on the surface, rake lightly, then water them in heavily enough to wash some down to the roots. Any bean will be a lot happier with its symbiont!
Just speculating.
Here's a question: can tomatoes steal nutrients away from beans? They look pretty close together.
>> wondering if this could be caused from overwatering?
The soil SURFACE doesn't look over-watered, but I know it never would look wet if you are drip-irrigating.
The soil looks coarse enough that it won't get anaerobic, and I assume AZ soil has fast drainage so over-watering seems almost impossible. You could always try watering the same amount, but less often, and check with a finger so be sure the soil stays damp enough, 3-4 inches deep
This message was edited Apr 4, 2013 6:22 PM
Penut-------How are your beans doing now? Its been 2 weeks since you wrote about the light green leaves.
