Planted some Trail of Tears french beans and most of them are looking rather sick. From what I've read it is probably halo blight, and it probably came from the seeds, as nothing had been planted in that area before.
This morning I cut off the affected leaves and pulled up one of the plants that was completely dead, but am not sure whether I should get rid of the rest of them too? Seems to be conflicting advice on this, my gardening book says just pull off the leaves, another website said burn it all and dont plant there for 3 years!
My runners next door to these dont look like they have been affected (yet)
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks
I saved all of my own seed last year and so far so good. They look really healthy. Quite a few folks on here had some of me so if theirs prove to be ok then I can send you some seeds if you want. You still have time to put some more in. If you want some then PM me your address.
Where did you get the seed?
Have you just planted them out? It could be reaction to the cold outdoors. Mine have almost ben wiped out by the slugs, though there's enough left for most of them to grow back, I hope. Cosse Violette are looking sad, but they always do when I first put them out. Pea beans are romping away.
Shirlton, have just PM'd you. Many thanks!
Seeds came from Realseeds.co.uk, maybe it was a dodgy batch.
Planted them straight in the ground about 6 weeks ago, they popped up quickly and looked healthy until recently, although didnt grow as fast as the runners.
Thought they just needed more water/feeding at first so have been giving them loads recently, unfortunately found out that was the worst thing to do as it spreads it more!
I have some from Real seeds and some from Heritage seed library. Must say the latter are looking very bonny, everything I have had from HSL always growss very well.
So far OK real seeds good as well. Some of the leaves are a bit curled up so I will keep a very good eye on them. They are growing in a patch which was almost entirely gravel. I mixed this with huge amounts of manure, so I am not sure what the result would be. Certainly well drained. They are growing among sweet corn. However I have loads of bean plants around so am keen to prevent diseases spreading. The sweet corn also from Real Seeds is growing very strongly indeed.
Thanks for the warning.
The foliage in the first photo is too far gone to judge, but that in the second photo certainly appears to show halo blight. Unfortunately the blight can be spread by both rain and air movement. Badly infected plants should be removed and binned/burned, but mild attacks can be controlled (not cured) by repeated removal of all newly affected leaves. On removal of the crop all detritus should be scrupulously removed from the soil surface (the alternative is not to grow beans there for a full 3 years), but I found that the use of a flame gun/wand on the site was sufficient to sterilise any infected detritus.
One dud seed in a packet can be sufficient to infect the whole crop, partricularly if you do as so many people and soak the seed for an hour or two before sowing - never a good practice.