Dr. Phyto

broad bean / fava bean

Vicia faba

Diseases & pests on this plant

• chocolate spot of broad beanBotrytis fabae

  Small (1-3mm) round chocolate-brown spots on leaves + stems, lesions enlarge and coalesce into black blotches in epidemic phase, premature defoliation + stem girdling, flowers + pods abort, dark sunken lesions on pods may carry through to seed.

• black bean aphidAphis fabae

  Dense black colonies on shoot tips + flower stems + young pods, sticky honeydew + sooty mould on lower leaves, stunted + distorted shoot tips, flower + pod abortion in heavy infestations, virus transmission causing leaf roll + yellowing later in season.

• broad bean rustUromyces viciae-fabae

  Bright orange-brown raised pustules (uredinia) on leaf undersides + stems, yellow chlorotic halos around pustules on upper leaf surface, severe infection causes premature leaf drop, dark teliospore pustules form late in season on dying tissue.

• pea-and-bean weevilSitona lineatus

  Distinctive U-shaped notches around leaf margins from adult feeding (looks like someone took bites with a hole punch), larvae visible inside Rhizobium root nodules when pulled up, stunted + yellowed plants from compromised nitrogen fixation, severe attack in cold wet springs delays flowering.

• Redlegged earth miteHalotydeus destructor

  Silvered, whitened or bleached patches on leaves and cotyledons where mites have fed; distorted, shrivelled seedlings; worst on cool, overcast autumn days on emerging canola, lucerne and pulse crops. Tiny 1 mm black mites with red-orange legs feed in dense groups.