French Beans: twisted and spotty pods!

[firstofficerspong]

Hi everyone

For the last 2 years my climbing French beans (Cobra) have done very badly. The pods are twisted, rough and covered in brown spots. I have not noticed that the foliage is affected. Does anyone recognize these symptoms?

I will try a different variety this year to see if it is the Cobra which is the problem. Incidently, the problem occurred on two different allotment sites: I moved sites between 2010 and 2011.

Thanks in advance for your help

John

[firstofficerspong]

[Bubbles26]

Were they from the same seed packet both years?

[firstofficerspong]

No, they were different packets Bubbles.

[chriscross1966]

That sounds like codl weatehr damage, Cobra doesn't do too badly normally but it doesn't liek it cold at night....

[firstofficerspong]

Thanks chrisscross. I can't remember if they did go through a cold spell, but they certainly sit on a wet and clayey plot so may have cold feet. I will try one sowing again this year but leave it later perhaps.

John

[BAK]

You do not say when you sow them.

The brown spots may be bean rust. We get some later on in the season and some twisted pods.

Rust is more likely with later sowings ... we used to get it from early June sowings (in the south).

We have found that Cobra seems to be better at keeping rust at bay than Blue Lake which is what we used to grow.

Other factors may include shade and drainage. We noticed that rust tended to be more prevalent in an area that was partially shaded. And I am not convinced that french beans in general do well (certainly not as well as runners) in any wet area.