What a bummer. Despite all my efforts to maintain weeds and check for bugs, some little varmits got a hold of my beans (pics below). About half the plants have holes in the leaves and three plants have just fallen over. This of course led to a frantic Google search of all things bug. Turns out 95% of garden bugs are good bugs – they break down organic matter, pollinate, and eat other bugs, but the other 5% suck. Actually, half of them suck and the other half chew.
I found a picture of some bean leaf beetle damage and it looked exactly like my little chewn up leaves. The culprit for the fallen over plants is most likely cutworm. A little gem who likes to chew the stems of young plants right at ground level and then, as far as I can tell, just lets the plant die. I find these little jerks to be very counterproductive. I plan to get some natural insecticide for the entire garden. There are lots of recipes online for how to make your own, but rather than concoct something gross enough to repel slugs in my own kitchen, I think I’ll just purchase it.
Victory note – Ate a salad tonight with some home grown lettuce. Absolutely delicious!
Your efforts will pay off.
ReplyDeleteIn more than one way.
Keep up the good work &
enjoy what you are doing.