The community gardens here have been ravaged by Mexican bean beetles this summer. It's a mess. There have been three exceptions, however.

My soy beans, which are planted between my bush beans and my pole beans, are pretty much untouched.

Two gardeners have bush beans which are clean as a whistle, without having been sprayed or dusted. This despite beans being decimated in adjacent plots. Unfortunately, these are the type of gardeners who can't tell you what variety they planted. :-)

Am I correct that bean beetles move around and that the differences from plot to plot are not the result of soil infestations or lack of them?

Jim

With about 23 bean varieties overall in my main gardens, Japanese beetles are only bothering the Tennessee Greasy Grits. They are just one of 7 pole beans there so being a climber is not the main factor. I've been finding 2 or 3 every day for the past several weeks. Since this is the first year that I've had the JBs on my beans, can't say if it's a varietal attraction or not.

Martin

BTW, yes I understand this thread is clearly titled Japanese Beetles and I came back with info about Mexican bean beetles.

My point is that, even before GL's post, I had been wondering if insects have a strong taste preference (or abhorence) for certain varieties of beans to the point where they will actually give some varieties a pass.

Jim

Same here - some varieties of beans are loaded with JB's - others have just a few in sight. Thanks goodness for that!

This year JB's are all over in my garden.They destroyed my potato plants earlier.
Then they selescted Egg plants, Okra, Sweet potato plants and Bitter melon plants resp. in time sequence i.e.they preferred Egg plants and Okra first.
When I sprayed Egg plants and Okra with Sevine dust, they moved to Sweet potato plants ( lesser in number, most were dead on Egg plants and Okra).When I sprayed Sweet potatoes,they moved to Bitter melon-fewer in population.When I sprayed Bitter melons it seems they are submitting to the power of Sevine dust.
It seems JB's may have some sort of taste preference as Jim has suggested.

JB's loved my pole beans...but did not touch my bush beans. They seemed to favor Kentucky Wonder...poor thing looks horrible...despite my efforts with Sevin. Next on their list was Rattlesnake...and they really did not seem to like MacClasans42.

I am giving up on KW...second year in a row that it has just struggled with JB's...

gardenlad, In my area (Allegany Co. NY) JB's are really bad this year, a lot worse than usual. I planted four kinds of pole beans to try to see which ones I like the best. Fortex, Kwintus, Rattlesnake, and Tobacco Worm (from you). The JB's have only attacked the Fortex. I have an 12 foot long, 8 foot high "A" frame, with two varieties on each side. The Fortex and Kwintex are on one side right next to each other and there seeds to be an invisable line that the JB's won't cross. Just a note, the Tobacco Worm was the most aggressive of the four, reaching the top first.
Roy

Are the Tobacco Worm beans stringless? How do they taste in comparison to other beans? Are they easy to grow?

I've never heard of this bean. I might be interested in growing some.

Need comments!

Tobacco Worm is a string bean, my first try on these, so I'll pass the ball to gardenlad.
Roy

Like most old-time mountain beans, Tobacco Worm has zipper strings. But making up for that: They never get woody or fibrous, no matter how big, as long as they retain their green color.

Tastewise? Let me put it this way. Tobacco Worm are the standard against which I judge all other beans. They're flavor more than makes up for the effort of stringing them.

But, to be fair, I don't mind the strings. In fact, most varieties I grow have them. Friend Wife and I just use stringing them as an excuse for some quality time together.

Reason you haven't heard about them is that they are not a commercial variety. They're an heirloom from central Kentucky.

For a view of (and to obtain) Tobacco Worm and other heirloom beans from the mountain south, you might plan on attending the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy's annual Fall Conference, Oct 6-8. In addition to a line-up of great speakers, there are two formal seed swaps and innumerable informal ones. Last year something on the order of 180 heirloom varieties changed hands, through trade, sale, and outright gifts.

For details contact AHSC at KentuckySeeds@hotmail.com