What Bush Bean disease/deficiency is this?

[wisconsindead]

My bean plants are growing relatively well so far. But they are having some issues. Here are some unhealthy looking leaves.

The area was fertilized recently with Steve Soloman's Complete organic fertilizer (soybean meal, kelp meal, rock phosphate, gypsum, lime, dolomite lime) and has a bunch of compost. It gets 1-2 inches of water per week. I water at 7 am and 7 pm using overhead sprinklers. Its possible that the second image is sunscald caused by water on the leaves focusing the sunset light. The plants were direct seeded on May 6. I am growing two varieties, Maxibel Horticot Vert and Provider. The leaves with the problems are both from the Provider. I can't say for sure if the Maxibel Horticot are free of disease/problems. I didn't look close enough.

[imafan26]

The dry spots can be sun damage. It can also be a sign of cold damage but if the other beans planted at the same time don't all have it, it is less likely. Some varieties are more sensitive to cold than others. The new leaves look ok, so it does not look like it will be a future problem. If it was fungal or bacterial, it would be more likely to spread. The stippling on the leaf margins may be the start of mites. Look under the leaf with a hand lens and see if you see any frass, or insects. Spider mites will cause bronzing under a leaf, but you would only see damage from broad mites.

Legumes do not need a lot of fertilizer, but it helps if you inoculate them so they will make more nitrogen fixing nodules.

Compost and organic inputs will help the soil retain water. If you water deep enough, you should not need to water twice a day. Beans are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial issues so it is better not to water at night and to avoid overhead watering if possible.

Bush beans should be planted 6 inches apart in staggered rows with 18 inches between rows for harvesting. The planting looks a little tight to me. Since beans have so many fungal and bacterial issues, I like to give them enough spacing so that the leaves do not touch each other so I plant 12-18 inches apart.

Beans are a good choice for a new organic garden since they are not heavy feeders. Realize that organic gardens take time to develop. The fertilizer you "recently" applied will need to be converted by the soil bacteria before much of it will be made available to the plants. It will take almost two years for all of the fertilizer to be made available. Approximately half of the nitrogen in the organic formulations are slow nitrogen that will release slowly over time.

Organic numbers are low so you will need to use more fertilizer in pounds than a synthetic equivalent. For new gardens, you will need to supplement with compost tea or fish emulsion to feed the plants, especially heavy feeders like tomatoes, until the organic garden matures in about 3 years.

You will need to continue to add organic inputs like compost, manures, and organic fertilizer every year but don't think of it as fertilizer to meet all the crop needs now, but as an investment in future crops. I still would get a soil test done initially and every 3 years or so. You can still over fertilize with organic fertilizers and a soil test will tell you, if you ask for organic inputs, exactly how much you need to add. You may not need to add lime every year as aerobic composts are alkaline. I have found that native soils always want to be the pH they want to be. You either select plants that like those conditions or be resigned to correcting the pH regularly.

[wisconsindead]

The dry spots can be sun damage. It can also be a sign of cold damage but if the other beans planted at the same time don't all have it, it is less likely. Some varieties are more sensitive to cold than others. The new leaves look ok, so it does not look like it will be a future problem. If it was fungal or bacterial, it would be more likely to spread. The stippling on the leaf margins may be the start of mites. Look under the leaf with a hand lens and see if you see any frass, or insects. Spider mites will cause bronzing under a leaf, but you would only see damage from broad mites.

Legumes do not need a lot of fertilizer, but it helps if you inoculate them so they will make more nitrogen fixing nodules.

Compost and organic inputs will help the soil retain water. If you water deep enough, you should not need to water twice a day. Beans are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial issues so it is better not to water at night and to avoid overhead watering if possible.

Bush beans should be planted 6 inches apart in staggered rows with 18 inches between rows for harvesting. The planting looks a little tight to me. Since beans have so many fungal and bacterial issues, I like to give them enough spacing so that the leaves do not touch each other so I plant 12-18 inches apart.

Beans are a good choice for a new organic garden since they are not heavy feeders. Realize that organic gardens take time to develop. The fertilizer you "recently" applied will need to be converted by the soil bacteria before much of it will be made available to the plants. It will take almost two years for all of the fertilizer to be made available. Approximately half of the nitrogen in the organic formulations are slow nitrogen that will release slowly over time.

Organic numbers are low so you will need to use more fertilizer in pounds than a synthetic equivalent. For new gardens, you will need to supplement with compost tea or fish emulsion to feed the plants, especially heavy feeders like tomatoes, until the organic garden matures in about 3 years.

You will need to continue to add organic inputs like compost, manures, and organic fertilizer every year but don't think of it as fertilizer to meet all the crop needs now, but as an investment in future crops. I still would get a soil test done initially and every 3 years or so. You can still over fertilize with organic fertilizers and a soil test will tell you, if you ask for organic inputs, exactly how much you need to add. You may not need to add lime every year as aerobic composts are alkaline. I have found that native soils always want to be the pH they want to be. You either select plants that like those conditions or be resigned to correcting the pH regularly.

Thanks for your input. Somehow I missed this? I am going to thin the plants. I seeded too densely. Johnny's suggests 2" spacing, JM Fortier suggests 4", you suggest 6" lol. I will try different spacing in each row and see what happens. I will note that this issue seems to have essentially resolved itself. I still think there may be an issue with these Provider beans, but that discoloration didn't progress. I think you were right that the dry spots were sun damage. Probably from the evening watering.