re your last question, it is somewhat variety dependent, but for most cowpeas, if you keep them picked, they keep producing until frost. An exception to this is Piggott Family Heirloom which likes to produce a heavy crop followed by a few more weeks of light picking.

DarJones

Thanks, Dar.

I may have to combine batches to get a decent mess then, but maybe we can have enough to be satisfying this summer.

Anney,

Your experience coincides with mine. My cowpeas here in the north are considerably behind yours and, in their initial growth are showing that same crinkling and yellow color. I'm confident they will straighten out shortly. They are growing strongly.

I wonder if others experience this. Is it normal, as I think it is, or is it the result of my local growing conditions? Either way, it presents no problem in the long run.

Jim

Here is a pic of my cowpeas (Steele's Whippoorwill) taken yesterday. The new leaves are distinctly crinkled and chlorotic. As I said, I expect them to grow out of this. I would like to know what causes it though. Do other growers see this in their young plants?

These bush beans (Tiger Eye) are further along and show chlorosis but no crinkling.

I fed both crops with liquid fertilizer yesterday and there was rain during the night. Today the leaves have greened up noticeably.

Jim

Jim, That looks like nitrogen depleted soil. You have to give the beans some nitrogen to start off. The only time I get those results is when I plant into soil that has not been amended. I use a small amount of dried chicken manure which kicks peas and beans into high gear.

DarJones

Jimster

The comparison pictures of my cowpeas with what we think is the same condition:

It STILL looks like aphid or thrip damage to me but as I said earlier, I checked extremely carefully several days in a row, and other than a couple of tiny black spots that may have been mites of some kind, the leaves weren't carrying any insects.

If it was a nitrogen shortage as fusion suggests, the problem resolved itself in my containers without having any fertilizer whatsoever added. They're planted in fresh ProMix BX and nothing but water is added.

I think DarJones is correct. I suspected a nitrogen deficiency based on the characteristics of the soil here. So his explanation makes sense.

There are a couple of odd things happening which I don't understand, however. Like yours, it is the second set of true leaves which crinkle, not the first. And, although I can get them to green up pretty well with an application of liquid fertilizer, they will green up eventually if I just leave them alone. Later leaves develop normally.

The only explanation I can think of, and its just speculation, is that something at that particular stage of development impairs the ability of the plant to take up and use the available nitrogen, which is sparse to begin with. The plant is developing rapidly at that stage. Maybe the tops are getting ahead of the root system. Maybe those first leaves, which are healthy and green have temporarily exhausted the nitrogen in the proximity of the root hairs. It's a mystery.

I'm still wondering how widespread this phenomenon (I don't call it a problem) is. Your crop and mine look identical and I am sure it's not an insect problem. I don't even have thrips or aphids in my garden.

Jim

Well, I trust his conclusions, too, even if they seem puzzling! :-)

If you add liquid fertilizer right away, does it alleviate the chlorosis AND the crinkling? Or just the chlorosis and the crinkling clears up gradually?

Next year I'll see if adding some fish emulsion to the newly-germinated plants alleviates the condition.

Now, waiting for the plants to blossom and make COWPEAS!!!!!

Cowpeas are among the best legumes at producing their own nitrogen, but it takes a while for the roots to nodulate. The first leaves develop from nutrients stored in the cotyledons. The second set don't have that advantage. If the plant can't get it from the soil, you get leaf distortion. Once the roots get a little size and a few nodules, the nitrogen deficiency corrects itself.

DarJones

Amazing!

Thanks, Dar, for something that makes sense after all.

Thanks, Dar! Food stored in the cotyledons! Of course! That explains it. Only on Bean Forum can such arcane knowledge be found.

I will sleep well tonight.

Jim