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Edamame (soybean)
Habit (mature) · Harry Rose / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
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Edamame (soybean)
Glycine max
Soybean grown as a fresh-shell vegetable — edamame — an easy warm-season annual in the bean family (Fabaceae), native to China and the Russian Far East. NC State Extension describes a columnar, dense, multi-stemmed mounding plant about 1-2 feet tall and 9 inches to 2 feet wide, with hairy compound leaves and small pinkish pea-type flowers that give way to fuzzy legume pods. Like other legumes it fixes nitrogen, and NC State recommends inoculating seed with a soybean inoculant for best results. Pods are picked young and green for edamame, or left to dry on the plant for dry soybeans.
Review: Source-backed
Edible
Container
Light
Full sun
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
12-24" tall · 6" apart
Hardy in zones
Annual everywhere
Summer heat range
Warm-Hot
warm to hot summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
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It needs warm soil to germinate — NC State gives an optimum germination soil temperature of 75 to 85F — and needs regular irrigation, though it tolerates brief drought once established, so it is best grown through the heat of summer rather than as a cool-season crop.
Climate notes
Cold hardiness
This plant is grown as an annual; hardiness zones don't apply.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Edamame (soybean) (Glycine max). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/edamame
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
University extension service
Backs 17 fields
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Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY 2.0
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