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Ants are eating my bush beans!

 
Posts: 85
Location: Southern California
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I live in Southern California and my bush beans are chewed up. From the bottom up the leaves are completley destroyed. The stem is fine and so are the very top leaves but all the leaves below are being eaten. Any suggestions?

I attached a picture below if anyone would like to see.

006.JPG
[Thumbnail for 006.JPG]
 
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http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/p/Aphids.htm
Or find eggs and squish them gently so not to damage leaves.
I put this just in case, but since you say the leaves are being eaten, it doesn't really sound like aphids, does it? You might have a case of thirsty ants. I've heard a few complaints lately of plants doing the un-thinkable in order to get to the water in the plant. Maybe you could try watering your ants? Someone posted on another forum that it worked for them. Good luck to you and I wish I had more to offer.
 
                        
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Location: Berkeley,CA
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To be honest that looks like a decently healthy bean plant with very little leaf damage. Ants do not usually eat/destroy leaves, but rather "farm" aphids that certainly do eat/destroy leaves. I see some dry leaves on the ground near your beans which may be the ones that were lost and also your plants are sprouting new leaves nicely which can be a natural part of the process for the plant. If you are producing beans and the plant remains as healthy as it looks now then I wouldn't worry too much.
 
Kenny Garcia
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Location: Southern California
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okay thanks for posting ill keep tabs on the plants in case of any more damage.
 
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