Question
1) We live in n.w. Mt. When my beans come up something
chews off the leaves with just a 2" stem left. Some have
leaves with chewed portions. Would this be cut worms...tho
I can find none in the soil. Some young plants are quite
yellow.
2) We have OLD rhubarb plants. Last fall I 'broke off' 7
'cuttings' and planted them in a row. Three are doing
quite well; 4 look sick and stunted. These also have holes
chewed in the leaves...esp. the lower ones. I have tried
an organic pesticide. I think it helps the bug problem
but not the stuntedness. The old rhubarb plants don't seem
very vigorous either. I have given them some
fertilizer.Thank you.

Answer
C.A.
that is a common problem with beans. could be cutworms, sometimes birds, even slugs. If you seeded heavily you may still get enough, however if all the seedlings or the majority are damaged, it would be best to replant. This time, cultivate the soil at least 8" deep, looking for cutworm larva or pupae. Then after you plant, cover the row with Remay or similiar material, at least until the plants get their true leaves. They seem to weather some leaf damage beyond that point.

As for the rhubarb, I don't know much about it. The stunted ones may not have had enough root material when you planted them. I don't know how many plants you need, I would think 3 would be enough, you could pull out the sickly ones and let the others grow. the old plants may not look vigorous because they are overgrown, so dividing them as you are doing is the solution, and the central growing point of the original plant should probably be discarded.

Elyse