Ask Kitty

For the month of June, local gardening expert Kitty answers some of your gardening questions. If you have a gardening question for Kitty, you can email her at info@tworowtimes with “Ask Kitty” in the subject line. She will do her best to answer them all and we will even publish some of the questions and answers here.

Dear Kitty,

My green bean plant that I received from the Healthy Roots finale dinner was thriving and healthy. Then it started getting brown with white spots on the leaves. The leaves also looked dry even though I was regularly watering. Then the soil started getting a white film on top. Eventually my plant died. I think I must have overwatered the plant. Any advice on what happened here and how I can avoid it the next time around?

– No Beans For Me

Dear No Beans,

In answer to the leaf problem and demise of your bean plant, there are several possibilities.

If your bean plant doesn’t get enough sun, the leaves may yellow because they can’t produce enough chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is in all green plants and its job is to absorb light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the plant making its food from carbon dioxide and water. Lack of sunlight can also keep water from drying on the leaves after you watered your bean plant, which can lead to fungal disease.

The white on your soil may have been a fungus from overwatering and the soil not drying a bit in between. It is important to give your bean plant enough water to keep their soil moist but not soggy. Overwatering can rot the roots, and when this happens your bean plant has no way to get food and water and cannot thrive and will wither away. These difficulties are less likely to happen outdoors in your garden, but your bean was indoors in a pot. Try again! Maybe plant outdoors but not until the soil is warm, bean seeds like warm soil.

Happy growing,

Kitty

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