Green string beans

[Kathywhitaker]

Something is eating huge holes in the leaves of my string beans. They are still producing however. What can I do to get rid of the 'eaters'?

[rainbowgardener]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Hope you find it friendly and helpful.

I took the liberty of moving your post from the Intro section, to Vegetable Gardening. Since you had the string bean question, I thought more people would see it here who might be able to answer your question. Intros is really just for saying hi.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Have you been seeing lots of large orange "lady beetles"? I was mistaking these Mexican bean beetles for orange lady bugs... their larvae look like little fuzzy orange/yellow worms. How bout Japanese beetles?

These two are the only things that bother my beans.

You can hand pick them and dispose.

[garden5]

Have you been able to see what it is? If your not seeing them during the day, it may be because they are feeding at night. Try going out at night with a flashlight and you may be able to catch the critter in the act.

It may be slugs since they often feed at night.

[gardengrl3]

Hi Kathy,
I have the same problem too! Has anyone had any solutions to this problem? I have used soapy water and Bayers vegetable insect repellant-nothing has worked! But like you said my beans are still growing-I just hate seeing those bugs on my beans! Are your bugs black?

[GardenJester]

if the leafs are lattice like, it's likely beatle problem. If whole portion of the leaf is missing then you got a slug or snail problem. slug pellets for slugs. for beetles you can try lure traps for japanese, or just hand pick, squish then discard dead beatles at base of the plants. If you have enough dead beatles the smell will warn the other away.