French Beans Pest and Disease Advice
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Halo Blight
Brownish spots on the leaves are surrounded by a light coloured 'halo'. This disease comes from the seeds themselves. Possible causes are home-saved seed from the previous year not stored correctly; soaking runner bean seeds before planting; seeds bought from a bad source. It's a good idea to examine the seeds at planting time and reject any which are marked, wrinkled or unusually shaped. There is no cure, dig up and destroy the plants.

Slugs
Slugs find all parts of French Beans delicious - the roots, stems, leaves and of course the pods.  Click here for an in depth look at how to deal with slugs.

Blackfly
Planting Marigolds really does attract beneficial insects such as ladybirds and hoverflies - these love to eat blackfly. Spraying the plants with water also works - it simply knocks the blackfly off the plant. Where neither of these methods work, it's down to the garden centre for a chemical spray - most work well.

Recommended Varieties of French Bean
GardenAction recommends the following varieties of French Beans