Plant Health Initiative

Scouting

Soybean field with signs of green stem syndrome. Photo credit: Glen Hartman, USDA/University of Illinois

At harvest, scout for plants that have retained green, moist, nonsenescent leaves, petioles or stems, while the pods and seeds are mature, brown and dry.. Be sure to inspect plants before the first killing frost.

 

Other factors that cause delayed maturity

There are other reasons for delayed maturity in soybeans that can be confused with green stem disorder.

The main difference between delayed maturity and green stem disorder is that the maturity of the whole plant is delayed, including the pods and seeds, rather than just stem tissue.

Plants with these other delayed maturity problems are encountered much less frequently than plants with green stem disorder symptoms.

Factors that can cause delayed maturity of the whole plant include:

• stink bug feeding in the southern U.S. (“green bean syndrome”)
• late herbicide application
• fungicide application
• infection by Soybean mosaic virus, Bean pod mottle virus, or other viruses
• late planting and/or emergence
• admixtures (seed of different cultivars mixed together)