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Broad bean leaf curl

StoakterrStoakterr Posts: 4
in Problem solving
 I have a problem with leaf curl on my broad beans. I grow them every year and move them within the vegetable patch. The ph is 7 -8. Last year I grew potatoes in the ground. I have four rows and not all plants are affected. The compost I spread over the soil is grass, leaf mould uncooked vegetable waste . This year I cover the beans with wood chippings, two + years old, from an ash tree. The plants were raised in the green house and healthy when they went in 20th March. I enclose pictures of the plant and root ball. Can you

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Could the grass clippings have been treated with a lawn weedkiller?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It looks like hormone weedkiller damage.  Was the area of grass you used the mowings from treated with any 'weed and feed' type products?
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Snap! @BobTheGardener 😉 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • StoakterrStoakterr Posts: 4
    Many thanks for your replies. The grass is treated twice a year and has been for some years. The treated grass is 20 meters from the vegetable patch. We do not spray the grass near the vegetable patch. The 1st cut I leave on the lawn and the second cut I dump well away from my compost area. Nothing has changed since last year when we had a good crop other than the site. The compost is turned over with a rotavator when removed from the compost bin so is well mixed when spread. The plants are good in the back of the first row but poor in the front, the second row is a mix and the third row is poor. Some seed may have been left from last year's packet. No other plants have been affected by the compost ie asparagus, runner beans, potatoes. Woe is me. Thanks for your interest.  
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    In that case the only other possibility I can think of is a virus which may have been transferred to the affected plants via aphids or other sap-sucking insects.  Because runner beans are also very sensitive to even tiny amounts of hormone weedkiller residue and you say those are unaffected, that possibility is now more remote.  In my opinion, you can also rule-out old seeds as being the cause.  I hope you still get and enjoy a good crop from the other unaffected plants though!

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • StoakterrStoakterr Posts: 4
    Many thanks for your interest Bob. It appears the a couple of the plants are unfurling and growing so hopefully others will follow. I will let you know if you are interested. Terry Stoakes.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes please do ... Id be interested to see what happens. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Yes indeed, always interested in unusual plant growth.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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