Pole lima beans ?

[wal3]

Last year I planted pole lima beans and for the first 45 days the beans were looking very good then all of a sudden the lower leaves were turning yellow and it seem that the more I pick off the more were turning yellow. I watered, gave liquid nitrogen, use copper spray, and spray for insects, applied ironite to the soil nothing work. My zone is 10, soil is very sandy.
I planted in June the weather was very hot. Does anybody have some suggestions on what the problem might have been, or have you had similar experience?
Thank You

 

[oneeye]

You don't need to add a lot of nitrogen to any kind of beans, because they fixate their own nitrogen. The term is nitrogen fixation and plants that work together with nitrogen fixing bacteria called rhizobia, to "fix" nitrogen. Nitrogen from the air diffuses into the ground. The rhizobia chemically convert that nitrogen to make it available for the plant. When you have problems with your plants or soil the only way to find out for "SURE" what is wrong, is to have a soil sample tested at the soil lab. The the price you paid for the copper spray, ironite, and bug spray, "which wasn't needed" you could have paid for a soil test and had money left over. Soil test costs $25 from local university. photo soil test from university.

 

[Chuck]

Aside from what @oneeye has posted, which was right on the money, I think I can add a little more to the convo. Sandy soil and hot weather probably caused your problem. Sandy soil because it lacks in water retention and usually it also lacks in organic matter. Limas don't grow well in hot weather. 90F and they start to suffer. They prefer 70F-80F for best growth. I doubt if this was an NPK problem although a lack of certain trace minerals could be a factor. If this happens again make note of the weather and take pictures.

 

[karstopography]

I was wondering about planting in June for zone 10. I know Southern California weather is different and how far off the beach you are makes a big difference in the amount of heat, but a June planting time seems awfully late. I’m in zone 9 and planted my Christmas Lima beans in early March, they should be mature and productive by June. We get a lot of humidity with our heat, so So.Cal might have a completely different planting schedule.

 

[Chuck]

I was wondering about planting in June for zone 10. I know Southern California weather is different and how far off the beach you are makes a big difference in the amount of heat, but a June planting time seems awfully late. I’m in zone 9 and planted my Christmas Lima beans in early March, they should be mature and productive by June. We get a lot of humidity with our heat, so So.Cal might have a completely different planting schedule.

The poster said he planted in June. If he planted seeds 1 June that means harvest time will be mid August and the plant growth time would be in the hottest part of the year. And if the weather was in the low 90'sF it is no wonder the plants started yellowing. You are correct. He planted way too late.

 

[Tjohn]

June 1 is planting time in Zone 3, not 10.......

 

[Chuck]

To all who are concerned about growing pole limas in really hot weather I know of one variety that does really well and that variety or type is called Speckled Butter Beans. They don't taste exactly like the large white limas but are still excellent.

 

[karstopography]

I’m growing the speckled butter beans for the first time, I believe they are also known as Christmas Lima beans. Florida speckled is another name.

 

[Meadowlark]

Same here on the Christmas Limas. Because of the difficulty Limas have with hot weather, my go to big bean in summer is the "Bingo". Very tasty large beans easy to harvest on poles.