I planted Stringless Blue Lake pole beans this year and have been rewarded with amazing production despite repeated attacks by the nefarious Mexican bean beetle. Resembling a lady bug with an orange-red body and black spots, this beetle lays numerous eggs on the back of the bean leaves and the yellow larvae proceed to eat up the bean leaves until they look like this.
Upon returning home from a summer vacation, I was appalled to find nearly all the bean leaves skeletonized. I immediately started hand picking the pests - squashing bugs, eggs, and larva indiscriminately. I was rewarded with nice fresh leaves in the fall and a burst of new beans!
I much prefer growing pole beans to bush beans for the simple reason that they take up less space growing up a trellis, not to mention that they continue to grow new leaves and produce beans all season long. My last picking was October 25th, just before eight inches of snowfall. The snow didn’t come with a frost though, and I’m hoping to harvest a few more yummy beans. . . in November!
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