We live in zone 6a and I have been gardening and cooking for years. This blog is an opportunity for me to share with you my success and those failures that come about on occasion. Plus, I want to hear from all the gardeners and bakers and cooks out there and learn from you. Feel free to share your ideas.







Saturday, May 19, 2012

What Is Eating My Green Bean Plants?


I just came in from working out in the garden and this is why I need to get out there everyday to take a look at what is going on in my raised beds.

I took one look at my beans and thought, what is eating my green bean plants?


So I decided to look this up on the net and most likely it is a critter. My quess it is either squirrels or rabbits--darn pesky critters.

Here is what I found at Our Ohio under there Q&A:

Some of my young green bean plants look like the tops have been bitten off.  I can see no insect on the plants, just the results.  What is it and how can I stop/prevent this problem organically?


It is probably some sort of animal – bunnies, ground hogs, or maybe even a squirrel.  It is hard to say for certain without seeing the plant.  Animals are the probable culprits as they are more likely to bite off the top of a plant while bugs have a tendency to eat holes into the leaves.

Here are two organic solutions to your problem:

1.) Combine 1 tablespoon hot sauce and 1 quart of water in a spray bottle and apply this mixture to the plants.  Remember to reapply every time it rains or when you water.
2.) Another option is to put a fence around the garden.  The holes of the fence need to be small enough (about 1-inch x 1-inch) to prevent critters from entering.

I already have the fence , but I need to make sure they can't crawl under it, but squirrels will just climb it. So I am going to try the spray before they eat all of the rows of beans.I did not see any bugs, so I am assuming it is a critter or two. Or I may even try a row cover for now..

8 comments:

  1. Uh Oh...Too bad! I'm beans are safe from everyone but the slugs!!!

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  2. I have the same problem - squirels eating my bean tops.

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  3. Well I am going to put row cover over them and put the garden staples in very close so that hopefully they will not get in under it. If that does not help, I will go to plan B. However, I need to think about what plan B even is :)

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    Replies
    1. jenda northern wisconsinJuly 14, 2013 at 1:36 AM

      every year when I plant green beans, the plants start growing about a week and get 3" high something eats them leaving only a 1" stem. I never see any bugs or tracks around- all I see are pencil sized holes in the ground by the plants. what is it and how do I prevent this.

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  4. All the tops of our Yellow and Green bean plants were eating last night. It started a week ago with one pepper plant... now the beans??? I'm going to install a motion activated camera to see what I'm contending with but because the plants were 18 inches tall already, and only the tops are eaten, I assume it's deer. At a sporting goods store, you can buy animal repellant or synthetic coyote urine. Deer/rabbits etc... won't come around.

    We fixed the slug problem. I outlined our garden on the outside the fence with old rectangular 6x12 patio blocks. Then poured a salt line on the blocks around the garden. Slugs are 99% water and melt right there. Plus the patio blocks help make a clean edge between the lawn and garden for mowing.

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  5. Diatomtaceous earth (Sluggo) for slugs, best fix ever. They're hard white pellets, slugs and snails love 'em, eat 'em like candy, but DE is like razor blades in their GI tract, shredding it; they all die and not in your garden. Sluggo says it's organic, but only molecules with carbon atoms are organic. DE is inorganic, yet all-natural. Yet lead and mercury and arsenic are all-natural. Just sayin'.

    My problem is chipmunks with my green beans and cukes. Tops bitten right off in a fenced-in aread. Time to get my drowning bucket out. (You can look it up.) Yep, I kill 'em. I have no sympathy for pest-rodents, none. In fact, Lyme disease is harbored in (mostly) white-footed mice and also chipmunks and other small mammals. Deer don't infect blacklegged ticks, mice and chipmunks do.

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  6. Is there any herb plant that can help fend off bugs eating my bean plants? I also heard to sprinkle cinnamon on flowers n veggie plants to deter bugs away, ?

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  7. My pole beans are over 8 feet tall and something g has eaten half bbn of them mid stem. Leaving behind leaves but chewing them in the middle leaving the top and the bottom. Definitely a critter and it happens at night so I'm thinking m.h maybe a rat or mouse. I've tried the peppermint spray but now I'll try the hot sauce spray. I'm so annoyed. I'm planning on making a larger veg garden but not until I have this figured out.

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