So Sad Beans

[chickencoop789]

I have a small garden in my front yard. I am growing tomatoes, bell peppers, and beans. My tomatoes and peppers are doing great. They are both producing vegetables. My beans are not doing too well. I planted them in late April. I have gotten a total of about 12 beans this season. The beans werent that big (around 3 in long). 2 of the bean plants are starting to flower again. The beans were planted in a 3x2 area. Almost all of the seeds sprouted. The plants only grew to be about 6 inches tall. Some of the bean plants died and had to be pulled out. On almost every plant, there are brown leaves. I only have about 10 plants left. This is my first time growing beans so I dont know much about them. Did I do something wrong? What can I do to get more beans? I am starting to get frustrated and am very close to pulling them all out. Help would be appreciated.

 

[ladyrsanti]

I see lots of shade. Do they get any sunlight? Also, pine needles aren't good mulch for a garden. They will change the pH. Pine contains tannins that acidify the soil. If they are planted under a pine tree, they won't ever grow well. Otherwise, I would get rid of the needles first and foremost.

 

[chickencoop789]

They do get sun in the morning.

 

[chickencoop789]

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[mississippifarmboy]

Never tried growing that few, our garden rows are at least 100' long. But this year was not a good garden year for us. Three rows of green beans, just picked them and will be lucky if we get a canner full. Just a bad year.

You might try planting in a different area next year. Maybe it's just the soil there, but beans do like full sun too.

 

[SweetSilver]

I'm looking at all the pine needles. We do use tree chips which include plenty of fir needles, but it is composted thoroughly in the chicken coop if we can. That's a lot of straight pine needles.

My *guess* is that the beans are struggling with the uptake of nutrients because the acidity of the soil is way too high. Normally I don't bother much with soil acidity, but it does make a difference when it tips too far to the extremes.

Beans like a lot of sun, too. "Morning sun" might not be enough. Shade by 2 or 3? Probably fine.

 

[Gryphon]

Two things:
1. Agree with those above that the high acidity may be the culprit behind the browning of the leaves, and they like full sun

2. They're short because they're bush beans, they don't grow really tall like pole beans, so you're not doing anything wrong in that respect, they just naturally don't get very tall.

 

[chickencoop789]

Shade by 2 or 3? Probably fine.

More like shade by 10.

 

[SweetSilver]

Definitely not enough sun, and it could be that these plants would have done better with that thick pine needle mulch had they had more sunlight, but shade by 10 isn't even close to what beans need. Runner beans seem to do a bit better in shadier spots, but I would focus on leafy greens, or better, steer away from annuals in this area and plant shade-loving edible shrubs. Huckleberries *love* the pine needles! Any shade-tolerant blueberry or huckleberry species would do well here. Very, very well!