Should I be Concerned about my Beans?

I have a 10' long bed filled with Kentucky Wonder pole beans and Blue Lake bush beans. They were planted from seed 4/14. They started good out of the gate, but seem to have stopped growing. They get lots of sun, mainly mid-morning to late afternoon. They've gotten plenty of water. I have found aphids on them, but have been spraying them with soapy water daily or as needed. None in this bed seem any taller than the others, so it's a universal problem in this bed. Most of the pole beans haven't started developing more than the first set of "true leaves", but there are buds for them on the plants. The planting medium is a combination of compost from our compost pile, mushroom compost, and planting medium from a local commercial supplier. Contrast this to another bed we have that's much smaller with a mixture of native dirt, compost, above mentioned planting mixture, mushroom compost. The plants in the smaller bed are much greener, taller, leafy-er (more leafy?), and generally just more healthy looking. The smaller bed gets about the same amount of sun. They get the same feeding, too.

Here's the first bed that I'm concerned about. The plants are approx. 6" tall. The black stuff on the bottom of the leaves is dirt residue from recent rains.

Pic #2~Close up of plant from 10' long bed. Again, the black stuff on the stalk of the plant is dirt.

*edited* I think this is a bush bean!

This message was edited May 20, 2009 4:32 PM

Pic #3~The smaller bed with the healthier looking plants. Bush beans in the middle, pole beans on the right.

Here's a pic of one of the pole beans in the long bed. See? No leaves in the middle yet. That concerns me.

BTW, both beds were planted on the same day.

So, am I just a nervous newbie or do I have legitimate reason to be concerned?

looks about like mine that were planted the week following Easter, I wouldn't worry just talk to them more

Has it been pretty warm over there? My beans were taking foreeveeeeeeeeeer to grow, but once the consistently warm weather hit they just exploded.

Also, I planted a set of bean seeds on 4/24 and they are definitely smaller than yours. Seems like your plants are on track?

We've had unseasonably cool temps at night for the past week, but it's been nice and toasty during the days. We've also had many rainy and cloudy/cool days in the past month, so maybe that's it. Okay, I'll continue to be patient.....

Stephanie,
That trellis system behind your beans in the first pic looks interesting. Could you post a total pic of it, please?

I have 6 Contender bush bean plantss growing in a small raised bed like yours. My bed is filled with sifted homemade compost (leaves, grass, veggie peels, confetti shredder paper, coffee grinds), additional coffee grinds, and Black Kow composted manure. I planted my seedlings approximately 5-6 weeks ago when they were about 5". To date, all of them have green beans on them. Here's a picture of my bed. It gets the same kind of sun as yours does. My beans haven't really shot off yet either, but they have greens beans on em... Go figure.

P.S. The before and after of the trellis bed. The veggies in the bed are what I harvested this Feb-March: turnips, lettuce and, carrots that I had harvested from seeds planted last Thanksgiving week.

I keep telling myself the beans really are growing taller, but it sure doesn't look like it. We have had some very cool nights here in Charlotte, so I suppose that has slowed them down. Yours look a little shorter than mine, Stephanie, but they look healthy so give them more time.

Linda, I'll have to post pics when I get home and am on my own computer, but I'll do it. It's nothing fancy and made from scrap lumber my husband had at home.

My husband designed the trellis system. It can be tilted at various angles if needed. He used some kind of twine and we simply looped it over the top and then down at the bottom. Nothing very elaborate.

Steph,
That design is so neat. Could you ask him how he made it so it could tilt? And take some closeups of the points at the bottom where it pivots? Thanks!

Linda

I just bought a 4 pc. set of Craftsman tools and a 7.25 laser saw from Sears. One of my co-workers is gonna help me build some small projects. I could certainly add this design to our list of projects, along with my compost sifter. Thanks!

Here are the points. He used 3-2x4s about 6' long. (From the ground, the whole structure is 7' tall. The bed is 18" tall and then the 2x4s are mounted on top of the bed.) He used 2-1x2s for the bottom rungs. He placed a cross support at the midpoint of the bed using a 3x3 piece of wood, he cut notches out to fit over the side boards of the bed. Then he screwed the support piece to the side boards for stability.

More to come...

A view from the other end, but you can see the cross support at the mid point, the way the support fits over the side of the bed, and the 1x2s used as the bottom rung. DH says the key is to use screws in 3s to make a triangle. Somehow the triangle pattern of the screws gives it more stability and strength.

Sorry this sounds so weird, but he sorta made this up as he went using no plans or anything. Let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks a bunch Steph! My friend will be able to decipher the drawing. He's a Mr. Miagie-type builder.

Great! If your friend has any questions when it comes building time, just send me a message and I'll ask the DH.

One of the things to remember with beans, peas, and all of the legumes, is that they really do not need an overly fertile soil. A light dose of compost is all that is usually needed. Legumes actually can improve your soil as they fix nitrogen along their roots. Many folks will inoculate their bean seed before planting (a powder you can find at many garden centers) to help in this process. Best way to see how your plants are doing is to compare them to other gardens in your area--again, a quality garden center, or perhaps a master gardener program can help you out.
Love the trellis!
Good luck!
Phil
Gourmet Seed International

The beans aren't looking any better, but I think I might have a rust problem. Ugh! I'm going to apply some corn gluten meal to the ground and spray the plants with either Plant Wash (if I can find some) or a concoction of Garrett Juice & garlic.

My bush beans looked just like your about a week or so ago. But in the past 10 days, we've had a ton of rain (here in FL) and they just shot right up! So, I think they look like they're right on course!

And thanks for the trellis pics. I might steal that idea, too!