My Beans Emerged From the Soil and Died

A good indicator of collar rot is when the plant shows less vigor than it
should or less vigor than its neighbors

Q. I recently planted bean seeds in pots on my porch here in Las Vegas.  However, after the bean stalks were half a foot tall, they bent over, turned dark and died.

A. This is probably crown rot. If you plant beans when the soil is too cold they have a huge chance of developing crown rot at the point where the bean stem enters the soil. This causes the stem rot, the plant dies or we say “collapses”. If you plant them when the soil is warmer, they have less chance of this happening.

Once the plant is lifted from the soil you can inspect the stem at the soil
level. Where the brown part of the stem and the green part starts was
the soil level. This is also the place where the bean stem was attacked
by collar rot fungi. Avoid planting in soils that are too cold.