Weird green bean leaves - Ask Extension
Some of my pole blue lake beans developed really strange leaves. I don't see any bugs, and they are watered with drip tape just under the topsoil. I a...
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Weird green bean leaves #804706
Asked August 04, 2022, 7:10 PM EDT
Some of my pole blue lake beans developed really strange leaves. I don't see any bugs, and they are watered with drip tape just under the topsoil. I am afraid it will affect the fruit. Do you know what could cause this? I tried to make the pictures show the leaves better so the color is darker than they really are.
Washington County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi, Carla-
That looks a lot like herbicide damage. Take a look at the pictures in this article for comparison. Even if you haven't recently sprayed anything in your yard with an herbicide, some of them can volatilize and drift for up to a mile in high temperatures like the ones we had over the last 10 days or so. Here's more information on herbicide injury on garden plants.
In this case I think I would pull out the plants showing the damage rather than eating any beans they might produce. If you knew for certain which herbicide caused the damage they might be OK (if that herbicide is listed as acceptable to use on/near edible plants), but I'd err on the side of safety and not eat them.
That looks a lot like herbicide damage. Take a look at the pictures in this article for comparison. Even if you haven't recently sprayed anything in your yard with an herbicide, some of them can volatilize and drift for up to a mile in high temperatures like the ones we had over the last 10 days or so. Here's more information on herbicide injury on garden plants.
In this case I think I would pull out the plants showing the damage rather than eating any beans they might produce. If you knew for certain which herbicide caused the damage they might be OK (if that herbicide is listed as acceptable to use on/near edible plants), but I'd err on the side of safety and not eat them.
