I suspect this is part of the phenomenon discussed recently in the thread Purple Hull Peas in Central California - disease or deficiency?

When I first encountered it a few years ago I recall yellowing of the leaves (although I don't see that on yours) and distorted leaves like yours. I posted pics on a thread of this forum which, unfortunately, I am unable to find.

Anyhow, if it is like what happens to my cowpeas, it will clear up shortly as the plants grow.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Hull Peas in Central California - disease or deficiency?

Jim

I hadn't read that cowpea thread, and it doesn't have a lot of information, does it?

As I kept looking on the internet for answers, I was really leaning toward thrip damage. Thrips are minute insects found on the leaves and in blooms (Photo 126) of both snap bean and cowpea. Adults are tan to dark brown and about 1mm. long. Two pairs of wings are present and long hairs occur on the edges of the wings (Photo 127). Immature thrips are smaller and lighter in color. Adults and immature stages "rasp" the plant surface with their mouthparts and feed on the exuding plant sap. After mating, females insert eggs into the plant tissue. Larvae emerge and feed by scraping the plant surface and ingesting plant sap. Maturity is reached in less than one week and pupation occurs in soil. Adults emerge in about four days and the cycle is repeated. Multiple generations occur annually in Arkansas. On snap bean, thrips rarely cause significant injury although high populations can cause leaves to curl. Because of the rapid growth of snap bean this damage has little effect on snap bean yield. On cowpea, however, thrips generally constitute the major insect pest in Arkansas. As soon as cowpea plants emerge, thrips attack the new foliage. The result is leaf distortion and yellowing (Photo128). Although seedling injury appears substantial, studies have shown the cowpea tolerates high numbers of seedling thrips with little effect on yield. The greatest impact of thrips is on blooming cowpea. Flower thrips feed within the bloom and often significantly reduce cowpea yield.

Management: On commercial snap bean, thrips rarely reduce yield and toleration is generally the best policy. This is also the case with thrips on seedling cowpea. Although damage on cowpea seedlings may appear severe, plant appearance greatly improves in about two weeks. Flower thrips can be successfully managed on cowpea with systemic insecticides, including acephate and imidacloprid. In periods of drought, a single application of acephate just prior to cowpea bloom has often resulted in substantial yield increases. The future registration of acephate for use on cowpea and other vegetables is currently unclear due to label changes. Thus, prior to its use, registration should be confirmed.

Since this was a discussion of cowpea pests in Arkansas and Georgia is close to Arkansas, I concluded they were the problem. Thrips are extremely small and are not easily visible. But I did see a tiny pale brown thread-like attachment to a stem that might have been a thrip.

Since thrip damage is certainly unsightly but apparently tolerable most of the time, that would fit your experience of leaf distortion and yellow leaves not being terribly destructive to production or plant life. No, I don't have severely yellow leaves, but the leaf-distortion is brand new so it could be coming.

Of course, there are several varieties of thrips that might be local in your area and in California.

The recommended use of a systemic insecticide in the event of inundation makes me shake my head. I'd never use a systemic and then eat the beans. I'll go with the unsightly leaves if thrips are the cause.

In the meantime, I've put strips of aluminum foil down among the stems in hopes of confusing the insects (if that's what they are) and driving them away.

I'll be interested to see if this damage is alleviated soon.

Further research...

I discovered one fast-moving black speck on the underside of a leaf and now am wondering if it's spider mites. They can also be a very destructive pest of cowpeas. Just in case, I've dunked both ends of a q-tip in clove oil and laid one in each container on top of an aluminum foil strip.

The reason I'm growing in containers on the deck this year is because the deer chomped them all last year, along with everything else in the garden. Of all beans, I prefer cowpeas, so I wanted them closeby to see if anything else was interested in them that would curb their production. I know container-growing means fewer beans than if they thrived in the garden, but I'm pretty sure we can get enough for several messes from the containers if they grow well there.

I'll still wait to see if the leaves lose that crumpled lumpy look as time passes by.

Tell me about the clove oil?

Morning, mauirose!

It's mostly from sites for pot growers, but clove oil is recommended as an ingredient that kills or repels spider mites because it's an ingredient in organic insecticides used for thrips and spider mites.

My solution of putting clove oil close to the affected leaves is VERY makeshift and probably won't accomplish anything but will have to do for now. It's recommended at a very diluted rate as a plant spray. I don't want to kill the plants with clove oil, since it can badly burn a plant if care isn't taken.

It's also claimed that spider mites can be knocked off leaves with water sprays, I suppose like aphids, but they're so tiny and move so quickly that I don't see how they can be destroyed that way.

I'm going to hope Jim's "wait and it may clear up" works with the two additions to his technique since I'm not sure about either diagnosis of thrips or spider mites. The symptoms are very similar, though small webs usually accompany spider mites in the axils of the plant leaves or elsewhere, and I haven't seen those.

Safer's soap might help, this is what I use, it usually takes a couple of sprayings to do the job.

Annette

Do spider mites move quickly? I'm not sure but, if they do, the diagnosis method I learned would seem not to be valid. Anyway, here it is:

Place a sheet of white paper under the leaves.

Tap the plant several times to shake mites or whatever onto the paper.

Select two or three of the tiny dots you see on the paper and draw a circle around them.

If a dot is just dust, it will not move and will not leave the circle. If it is a spider mite it eventually will crawl out of the circle.

Jim

On second thought, my spider mite diagnosis method will probably work if spider mites are fast movers. The point of it is to segregate the animate from the inanimate when the object are to small to see very well.

Jim

Annette

Thanks. I don't have any insecticidal soap yet, but I've put Safer's on my list now. I'm still puzzled though, to tell the truth. There just aren't any insects on the plants except for very occasional ones. That single moving black spot was the only one I've seen (yesterday).

I'll do that "shake over the paper" if I can find some more of those tiny critters on the plants.

You know, I'm recalling something I read last year about tomato leaves that were getting "puckery" and bumpy but seemed to have no diseases. Mulio pointed out that it can be a "condition", not a disease, of leaves that are new reacting to being watered. The surface of the leaves does the same thing, becomes bumpy and puckery. Apparently, so does basil.

I wonder if that's what's ailing my cowpea foliage (and that of others) instead of insect damage? It has rained constantly the past 7-10 days. That would also explain why if you leave the plants alone, they would eventually straighten themselves up on their own when the weather is more stable.

When I've had spider mite (red ones in my neck of the woods), there's usually a fine cobweb like webbing present on the leaves which really shows up if you mist the leaves with water. The underside of the leaves feel slightly gritty to the touch and the upper sides of the leaves look speckled not wrinkly. Your crinkled leaves could just be a quirt which will be outgrown or it could be damage by aphids, thrips or some other little beastie. I've found Safer's to be a very safe product to use but it usually takes a few treatments to do the job as it is a contact killer.

Annette