Replant beans?

jasonvanorder · Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:32 am

Well had a row of green bush beans and yellow bush beans about 25' long each. They sprouted great but as soon as they got about 4-6 inches tall something attacked them and ate all the leaves right down to the stem on all but about 5 seedlings total. Is it too late to replant and cover them to protect them or do I still have time to get them in the ground and get a good crop?

Thanks

Lindsaylew82 · Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:13 am

For Michigan, I would say definitely YES!

I'd also say either bunnies or groundHOGS are your culprits. So if you cover, you may want to do something like chicken wire.

jal_ut · Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:46 am

As a youth I lived on my father's farm. At one point he had ground squirrels that had decimated about 2 acres of his upper field. One day he handed me the 22 rifle and said, "Go kill those D--------- Squirrels!" At times it may become important to defend what is ours if we want a harvest. Traps are good to remove a few pests where you can't shoot, or there are some good pellet guns. If killing the culprits is not an option, then yes, fence! Bear in mind to bend over a foot and leave it lie on the ground to the outside of the enclosure or the critters will just dig under it.

jasonvanorder · Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:43 am

jal_ut wrote:As a youth I lived on my father's farm. At one point he had ground squirrels that had decimated about 2 acres of his upper field. One day he handed me the 22 rifle and said, "Go kill those D--------- Squirrels!" At times it may become important to defend what is ours if we want a harvest. Traps are good to remove a few pests where you can't shoot, or there are some good pellet guns. If killing the culprits is not an option, then yes, fence! Bear in mind to bend over a foot and leave it lie on the ground to the outside of the enclosure or the critters will just dig under it.

Ive got a .22 but live "in town" so cant shoot that. Pellet gun might work but its a bit older and lost some punch. But I do have about 100' of 4' tall chicken wire I picked up at an auction thats just sitting around so that can get put to use. I already got a bit of a late start to the growing season thanks to the weather and now this is just another minor setback. I know its not just critters getting at them cause a few of the leaves that were left were full of holes so it looks like I got some bugs too.

rainbowgardener · Tue Jun 21, 2016 4:37 pm

Over what period of time did your plants get chewed down to stubs?

Show us a picture or two of the damaged leaves. Often you can get an idea of what did the damage, by what the remains look like.

But I'm agreeing that while you may have had slugs or insects making holes in your leaves, for all those plants to get chewed down to the stem sounds like a rabbit or a groundhog. Earlier this spring I planted some beans and squash. The seedlings got about like yours, and then the beans started getting chewed down like yours and the squash plants just disappeared!

I put up rabbit fence and now I have a bed full of happy healthy plants.

That's how the bed looked three weeks ago. Here it is now:

jal_ut · Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:00 pm

You asked about time and no one commented. Yes, beans come on fast. I think you can plant now.

Lindsaylew82 · Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:45 pm

Lindsaylew82 wrote:For Michigan, I would say definitely YES!

I'd also say either bunnies or groundHOGS are your culprits. So if you cover, you may want to do something like chicken wire.

jasonvanorder · Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:33 am

rainbowgardener wrote:Over what period of time did your plants get chewed down to stubs?

Show us a picture or two of the damaged leaves. Often you can get an idea of what did the damage, by what the remains look like.

But I'm agreeing that while you may have had slugs or insects making holes in your leaves, for all those plants to get chewed down to the stem sounds like a rabbit or a groundhog. Earlier this spring I planted some beans and squash. The seedlings got about like yours, and then the beans started getting chewed down like yours and the squash plants just disappeared!

I put up rabbit fence and now I have a bed full of happy healthy plants.

That's how the bed looked three weeks ago. Here it is now:

I will try to sneak a pic or two tonight but we have a chance of nasty storms about the time I get home. I'm pretty sure its a combo between critters and bugs. Most are just a bare stem sticking an inch or two out of the ground and a few that didnt get chewed the leaves look like swiss cheese. And some how a plant or two from each managed to make it untouched. But this weekend I will get a fence up and replant. They might have won the battle but the war is far from over.