Edamame (soybean) (Glycine max) — Plotwright

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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

°C

°F

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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 cited — 18 source-backed.

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

University extension service

Backs 17 fields

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Photo · CC BY 2.0

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