Common blight in beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) incited by Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli (Smith) Dye (X c p) reduces crop yield and seed quality. The objective of this experiment was to study heritability and phenotypic correlations of the disease reaction to various strains of X c p at several plant developmental stages in specific bean crosses using diverse methods of inoculation. Leaf and pod disease reactions to strains X c p were inherited quantitatively and narrow-sense heritability estimates were low in the following crosses between Phaseolus vulgaris cultivars/lines: Bac-6 (moderately resistant = MR) x NE-EP1 (MR); Bat-862 (MR) x 'Pompadour Checa' (susceptible = S); 'Pompadour Checa' (S) x Bac-6 (MR); 'Venezuela 44' (S) x Bat-862 (MR). Pod disease reaction was not correlated with leaf disease reaction at any growth stage. Low or nonsignificant phenotypic correlations were detected between disease reactions of leaves at the seedling and flowering stages with the several methods of inoculation. Intermediate phenotypic correlations were found for disease reactions with three methods of inoculation at the seedling stage, but only with two methods in the flowering stage. Negative or nonsignificant phenotypic correlations were observed between leaf disease reaction and number of days to first flower. Different duplicate recessive genes were found to control two foliar abnormality traits: crippled growth and variegated leaves .