I planted them in Chico, CA. It took forever for them to come up. They took a lot of watering. It gets super hot here so I'm wondering how they'll do. My friend from Japan said that hers did really well at home (very humid in Kyushu) but that it might be too try here to be productive. At any rate, it took a long time for the seedlings to appear.

Edamame soybeans grow well here even though it is hot and dry. I recently planted a double row and some didn't come up. Either too much or too little water, I suspect.

Once they're sprouted, they're pretty easy to take care of. And with many varieties, you can just cut off the plant and take the stems (cut most of the leaves off) onto the porch or indoors to remove the pods. Or leave on the stems to give to friends (which is what I usually do, since many legumes give me migraines). Nice not to have to stay in the garden picking, hunched over, when it is really hot.

fair0906,

Did you direct sow into the ground? Did they ever come up?

I ask because critters will often eat the seeds as food within a day or two of direct sowing in the ground. Dont' worry, soybean plants prefer hot temps.

Yes, I did direct sow in the ground. Out of 24 planted, I saw about 5 sprout. These were quickly eaten by some garden pest. I did find squirrel holes where other seeds had been planted, but I don't think that I saw enough activity to take out 19 seeds. Anyway, of the 24 seeds planted, one plant survived and is doing well now. It was a late sprouter-a full 5 weeks for germination.
Is it advisable to plant indoors and transplant?
The pole beans I've grown in the past say "direct sow only" and I've read that soy been cultivation should be similar.
If I feel like messing with soy again next year I'll make chicken wire cages to protect the seeds.

I've started indoors and transplanted successfully, just be gentle and harden them off so they get a chance to acclimate to outdoor weather.

Chicken wire probably wouldn't be enough. You didn't see much activity probably because of mice or other pests which tunnel underground so you'll never see any surface evidence.

Do try them again. It's hard to beat fresh from the garden soybeans. Don't be discouraged. Take it as a learning experience of what not to do.

when is your last frost? you may still have time to plant. (I planted mine directly in the garden last week, sprouted in less than 1 week -- must be the warm weather) expecting harvest mid to late september.

-Celeste (Idaho)

Celestial,

Unless it's a cold crop like those in the cabbage family, almost all seeds will germinate within three days in optimum soil conditions: sterile, moist with good drainage, where the soil temperature is 80 - 85 degrees. Tropical seeds prefer higher temps.

Depending on the variety planted, they can take anywhere from 50 to 125 days to harvest.

The variety I planted (Lake Valley packet says "Edamame" and no other variety specifics) is 75 days to harvest. My first frost date is late september, so I think another planting would be pushing it. Besides, I've just used the last of the empty space in my garden for my fall snow pea crop. Next year, however, I do believe I will germinate indoors or sow later. As said before, the one plant that did survive is growing like a weed and I'm excited to have, if but a few, fresh soy beans.

fair0906,

Normally I'd say depending on how many seeds you have, if you have some to spare, you could direct sow five to ten now just to see what happens because you never know... it may stay warm enough, long enough.

But in this case, soybean plants thrive in hight heat which would defeat the purpose even if it was a warmer fall because it probably wouldn't be warm enough.

Now is however a good time to be thinking about planting cold crops within the next few weeks like any "choy", anything in the cabbage family, or brussel sprouts, peas, etc. Many cold crops are best when "touched" by frost because it brings out the optimum flavor. Also, many normal pests which come out in the early summer season and destroy these crops are avoided by planting in the fall.