I'd go out with a flashlight after dark and see what's going on out there. One night I went out to see what was happening and saw both slugs and earwigs having a party on my young tender plants. Might be earwigs....I'd sprinkle with diatomaceous earth and some Sluggo.

The part that confuses me is what you mean by 'turns the leaves into lace'. Do you mean the 'meaty' part of the leaf is gone and the 'veins' are left?

If so it is unlikely to be slugs or earwigs as they just eat the leaf. If it is occuring only at night it is unlikely to be japanese beetles which do leave the veins alone and focus on the meaty portion.

Any other details you can provide to help with ID?

The Mexican Bean Beetle does that and since it looks quite similar to the Lady Beetle, because it is related, man ynew gardeners do not know what they are seeing. A yellow colored Lady Beetle like insect on the plants will be that Mexican Bean Beetle.

Going out with a flashlight is a good idea. I haven't done it because it's so late by the time it gets dark here and I'm an early to bed person, but this calls for desperate measures. lol And yes, username 5, only the veins are left. It's actually kind of pretty. I'll also check for Mexican Bean Beetle. Thank you for all the ideas!

OK. I went out last night and looked around and found absolutely nothing. Most of the bean plants are gone so maybe that's why. I'm going to start a new batch and try the diatomaceous earth on the leaves.

do you sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the leaves or on the soil around the base of the plants? would it coat the leaves, or just slide off?

granny, i had the same thing a couple of years ago and it was a beetle -- i think a japanese beetle -- that did it. if you do a google search ( japanese beetle) you'll find interesting info. one thing i just read is that the presence of beetles on a plant encourages more to come. the chewed up leaf itself also seems to. if you can hand pick them (knock them into a bucket of soapy water in the morning when they're sluggish) and decrease their numbers, fewer will be attracted in the long run.

(granny: have a great recipe for earwigs - they were the thieves in the night. Let me know if you want it.)

HELP!!!!!!!: beautiful pole bean plants - Musica (Renee's Garden) and some regular Kent. Blue Lake. Lots of water - very hot here - the small beans begin to turn into commas, and then get puffy, setting the beans. What happened??? They started out fine, Musica flat bean and delicious, and now even the Kent beans are doing the same thing. What's wrong??????? Been using beautiful worm compost (very proud) - too rich for the soil??

I plan to go out in the morning and flip the guys into the soap and water. I also found a recipe for a trap. 1 cup water, 1/4 sugar, 1 mashed banana and 1 pkg. of yeast.put this mixture into a jug with a narrow opening. I'm going to place one at each row and see what happens. Will let you know if it works.

What insects is the trap for? Japanese beetles? Bean beetles? Earwigs?

You don't say.

Something is eating my whole plant! I harvested wonderful green beans and noticed there were some more but left them to pick the following day. The next day all of the plants were gone - just sticks left - about 3 inches of stem. They are in a 3 foot fenced enclosure. I want to plant some more seeds but want to protect them from getting eaten again. What do you think it was and any ideas how to protect them? Thanks!

Could it be deer?

Maybe it is. I hung silver CD roms from a string hoping that might scare a deer and am making a scarecrow. The beans inside the fence in two different locations are gone but the few I have outside the fence are fine. I put eggshells around them this morning. I'm trying everything! If its not deer - what else?

Well, it could be a groundhog, i guess, who may have climbed over the fence.. I think they will gobble up garden produce pronto. Look for "signs" that could give you clues.. like poops around the area.. I found a large poop.. looked like bear maybe in our yard It had seeds in it, so i knew it wasn't dog or cat, and was relieved that it wasn't skunk, Then put out a live trap with tuna in it and a couple of days later
I caught a big old possum.