More like the potato beetles hate the smell or taste of the beans so much that they avoid the whole area. I first tried this in Missouri - my second year in the Ozarks. My neighbor across the street had a whole garden of potatoes which were loaded with potato bugs. I read about the beans with potatoes thing in Organic Gardening Magazine and thought I'd try it. I only had a couple rows of potatoes, but I planted rows of bush beans between and outside the rows of potatoes, and had no Colorado Potato Beetles in sight. Meanwhile my neighbor was spraying with Sevin at least every week.
Susan
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