Disaster? Runner bean plants

[Henwoman]

My runner bean plants, planted out I think last week, have developed white centres to their leaves, leaving only a border of green around the leaf. Any ideas? Is it just the heat, will they recover, or have they become infected with something awful?

[red]

have you had a frost?

[Henwoman]

No we haven't - temperature are very high here at the moment. I've never seen it before and I've grown runners for years. Just a bit worried they won't recover.

[Green Aura]

Can't think what it is - sounds like they've been scorched! It can't be too late to plant some more though, can it? I would, just in case.

[red]

i haven't sown mine yet... so should be ok. perhaps in a different location?

[niknik]

no idea.. but could it be soil deficiency?

[Odsox]

Are you growing them in the same spot as previous years ?
I'm having a spot of bother with my French beans this year with very similar problems to yours, which I think is caused by growing them in the same place three years running. Reading the RHS book it says "beans MUST be rotated", which is a pain as I grow early beans on the back wall of my greenhouse.
My runners are not in yet either and you can sow them up till the beginning of July for a late autumn follow on crop, so all is not lost.

[Henwoman]

Yes, I am growing them in the same place, as it's a permanent, strong 2 x 2 frame which I grow them up, with a concreted path round to stand on when I'm picking the beans. I'm sure it's not soil deficiency as It's got loads of newly made compost in it, so has had a real freshen up. Thinking back, I always used the same place in Gloucester when I lived there, and so did my dad used the same bed, year after year. I'll try to get some more seeds, not easy in France, when someone's coming over from the UK and pop them direct into the soil. These were brought on in the PT and then planted out. Thanks for all the feedback.

[oldjerry]

Don't know if this is relevant,but I ALWAYS grow runners in a big trench filled with old carpet,compost,manure etc etc ,somewhere different every year,(and LOADS of water).
This condition sounds like what I've seen in other plants as Magnesium defficiency,never heard of it with Beans,but I'd suggest that planting in the same place year on year aint such a good idea. BW.

[Mrs Moustoir]

It does sound like sun scorch to me. Last weekend we had heavy rain and hail showers followed by brilliant sunshine in departement 56 - could be the leaves got scorched then.

On the up side, runner beans are readily available in France. L1dl did have them this year for 29c a packet - look out for haricot d'Espagne. I grew some from L1dl seeds last year alongside my Red Rums and Aintree varieties and they were OK. The espaces verts (garden centres) also sell them but they are expensive.

Runners are widely grown here as an annual bedding plant (for the red flowers) and last year I saw them growing as part of the municipal planting scheme on a roundabout. I had to go round twice to confirm what I'd seen!

[Henwoman]

Thanks, MM. Ah - the French - you never know what they'll do next!

Our roundabout near SuperU St Nic, which usually has quite formal planting, has been given over to a wildflower selection this year, and I do love the wildflower meadows they have dotted about the countryside.

[Mabu]

We rrrrefuse to eat zis bean the dirrrty English call frrrench, *pah*. Amirite?

[Henwoman]

Well, I think it must have been scorching. We have had loads of rain over the last few days and the beans have started growing again and some have even started twining round their wires. So, hopefully disaster averted.