Premature Leaf Drop and Defoliation
When damage becomes severe, vegetables like beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, native to Central America) abandon their leaves completely. Defoliation is a plant’s survival tactic—shedding compromised foliage to conserve resources—but it leaves you with bare stems and drastically reduced yields.
I once lost a whole row of peppers to sudden leaf drop; what looked like healthy plants one morning were skeletons by afternoon. If you see rapid defoliation, check for mites at the stem bases and leaf axils—spots where they cluster—and treat immediately to save what’s left of your crop.