Bump for this post, because some of my bush beans are having this same problem. I've got beans growing in great conditions but the smaller pods seems to be shriveling up, as if the nutrients in the beans themselves are being sucked back into the plant.

What's worse is that I'm afraid to leave the rest of the pods on the plant to dry (for shelling).

I think lack of pollination could be playing into that

That sounds plausible.. some of the pods are half filled, half "shriveled" like I described. The shrunken beans are not colored properly and are rather dense, like stones. I've been picking a few of the questionable pods off of the plants to encourage growth on the rest of the beans.

Interesting to hear it isn't just me! I'm in the Northeast

I planted bush beans all over my lawn, in diff areas of sun and in a protected flower box. The first two in the box grew the best and fasted, but nothing else has done well. I pruned the two star growers after their first yield, and second round hasn't been great.

Many have had stunted growth, though it is supposed to be a fast growing variety. The tiny pods have gotten dark and shriveled - seemed like they weren't getting enough water, but not sure about that now... Other pods have grown but stayed very light yellow with hard, plump seeds inside. I tried to wait for them to change color, but they were already plump, as if going to seed. When I harvested one of them, the seeds inside were still white, but didn't look good for replanting.

Nattydoll, Are you growing the beans for shelling? I purposely left my pods on the plant until they began to yellow (they were definitely plump), and my issue is that some of the beans now seem to be... depleting?... back into the plant? Is this what is happening to yours?

I've never heard of trimming down beans for a second crop. Did any of your plants regrow? Usually I'll just replant the beans themselves.

Persimmons,

I was growing them to eat, bc I had such a large amount of seeds. I let some go to seed, moreso as an experiment or accident - I forgot - by leaving them on the plant longer. Sure enough, they got plumper and felt really hard, and the seeds inside looked like what was in the purchased packet.

The yellow beans seemed to grow in yellow. If they started out green, they changed colors very quickly. I thought they normally went from light to dark?

Is the yellow color a deformity due to poor conditions in soil, cool temps, or overwatering? I thought it was the same thing as having yellow leaves.

OR, are the yellow ones just as good to eat? I haven't tried them.

PS:

RE: cutting them down

I read online that you can trim back the leaves from bush beans, after your first harvest, and you may get a second harvest before they stop producing.

As an experiment, with my first pair of decently producing plants, I left the leaves on Plant A and pruned from Plant B after picking. Plant B produced some more.

Then I pruned Plant A, maybe a week later, and it also grew some more beans, but not as many as Plant B.

By "successful", these each grew about 5 in their first harvest. Much less than I was expecting! hehe.

The lesser performing plants, with a few hours less of sun, produced maybe 3 beans each. After pruning those, maybe 1 or 2 but stunted, tiny or large yellow beans.

My beans are yellow shelling beans, the pods begin a light color of green but quickly turn pale yellow and then increase in yellow color as they dry. As for the beans themselves, it's the same story. The ones that have shriveled up turn very dark brown, including the pod which shrivels and becomes a dead/brown color.

Yellowing of the leaves is okay in my understanding. It's a signal that the plants are done producing new growth/pods. I'm leaving the rest of my pods on the plant until the entire bush turns yellow in the hopes that the beans will plump with nutrients.

Thanks for the input, zeedman. What you say about the 'maximum pod load' makes complete sense--there are about 15-20 healthy pods per plant, whilst the latest developed (i.e. youngest pods with maybe 1 or 2 beans) are the ones shriveling.

I didn't know that beans pollinated themselves! Is this action through the wind, or gravity, or...?

I figured it'd be nice to add a picture to the thread in case anyone new comes along with questions.

These are Arikara yellow beans. Notice the one shriveled pod which was probably the youngest with fewest beans, but also notice the very healthy and robust pods that are completely filled.

Well this subject has gotten more interest beyond what I expected.

It is good to see that I am not the only one having this problem.
Thanks folks for the additional opinions expressed beyond what I had thought about.

:)

Double post.

This post was edited by hobbiest on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 20:42

That makes sense zeedman. I never entertained the issue that they might be self-pollinating, as I have a colony of bees, and they are on my bean plants like paper on a wall. They also visit my corn, even though it's wind pollinated. I might add to others who have mentioned trimming bush beans for a second crop that it is not necessary. All you really need to do it to keep picking the pods as they mature to keep them coming on. Mine are always good for at least two good flushes before they start to get spent. I still sow them in succession so that I can enjoy them and can them from early in the season until the first killing frost. I just picked from my youngest (and last one of the season) batch two days ago and will be good to go for an equally heavy harvest before the cold sets in.

Bees can pollinate beans - and occasionally cross pollinate them. However, the flowers are mostly self-fertilized before the flower even opens.

Persimmons, your beans have a good pod set, which is the reason new pods stopped forming. Looks like they are close to maturity.

When beans are let go for seed, the leaves too tend to yellow & fall off as the pods get close to maturity. I've noticed though that if the pods are picked in the shelly stage (before they dry) that the plants will sometimes begin putting out new leaves & flowers. This seldom happens if the pods dry on the plant.