Got to the garden today and found that some critter, either turkey or rabbit*, ate all the true leaves off half a row of my beans. There is a little bit of the seed leaves/cotyledons on each of them but I have my doubts there's enough energy there to push a new set of leaves. Should I leave them or pull them and re-seed?







*These were my Jacob's Cattle Gasless so they'll only have themselves to blame for the increased greenhouse gas emissions!

I would probably reseed, but you might need to put some chicken wire or the like over them to make sure it doesn't happen again before they get bigger. If you have room between your current seedlings, I might actually leave the current ones and poke seeds in between the current seedlings so. you have new ones coming on, but can still see if your current ones pull through.

as long as the top growing shoot hasn't been damaged, the beans could recover.
if it was rabbits, they usually make a very neat cut on the stem. there isn't bits of
leaves left behind. i have had beans that sent out new growth from the joints where the
cotyledons join the stem after the top of the plant was chewed off. those plants never were
able to do much afterward though.


keith

They eventually grow back, but I would also re-seed them - that would be quicker, unless you are almost out of one variety. And definitely put up some rabbit fence, buried a couple of inches, around the beans. They love beans, as well as kohlrabi leaves- two things that have been chewed to the ground in my garden, with other things left standing.

Any sign of deer? They LOVE beans! So far this year the deer have left the garden alone but there have been times when I had to put hoops over the beans and cover with netting.

They’re growing leaves again and the husband is on a tear about fencing. I’m voting turkeys based on what I stepped in today. Twice.