French Bean Pests And Diseases

French beans have similar problems to runner beans and many of the pests and diseases occur on both plants.

Slugs and snails can be a problem when the plants are young, pick up any that can be seen and remove them. Place slug traps at regular intervals.

Black fly can form on the plants, they can be treated by spraying with an insecticide or soapy water. If a good air flow can be made it will help. Remove any damaged leaves and destroy. Ladybirds will usually get rid of them naturally if the population is reduced.

Halo Blight looks like a brown spot with a yellow halo forming on the leaves. Any plants should be removed and destroyed. It is usually caused by poor or damaged seed and the cure is to get good seed and throw away damaged beans.

Foot rot is where the bean rots at the base of them stem and happens when the crop has not been rotated so the answer is simple, rotate the crops.

There are several problems with beans setting from the flowers and this can be from lack of pollinating insects and bees. It is possible to pollinate using a fine brush but the best thing is to plant in a sheltered site not a windy one and get the planting conditions right and the flowers will be good enough to attract the bees.

Also learn How To Grow French Beans

By Richard Allen -