Edamame beans harvest time (Picking edamame bean plants) – Full grown edamame plant

2022/6/30

Growing edamame bean plants in open-field cultivation. The edamame I started growing in spring is now ready to be harvested. I want to harvest the grown edamame by pulling up the whole plant. (Harvest the full grown edamame plant.)

Edamame cultivation (Edamame beans how to grow?)

When to start growing edamame bean plants? Start growing edamame in late March. The soil preparation for edamame plant was in late March, and the planting time was in early April. I have grown edamame every year, and it’s easy to grow and very tasty, so I recommend it. I think edamame bean plant is an easy vegetable to grow, even for beginners in home gardening.

The usual timing for preparing soil and sowing seeds for edamame is that I prepare the soil in early April and usually sow seeds from late April to early May. However, this year, since the previous vegetables were finished early, I prepared the soil and sowed the seeds for edamame earlier than usual.

I thinned the edamame bean plants, hilled the soil, and set up the insect net in late April. How to thin the edamame? You should thin the edamame beans when the primary leaves come out. This year, the thinning time for the edamame was about two weeks after sowing the seeds.

Hilling is done to prevent the edamame from falling over and to improve root growth.

The insect netting is set up to protect the edamame bean plants from pests, mainly to keep out stink bugs. This year, I put up the net when thinning the edamame, but there were already quite a few aphids. So, I think it’s best to set up the insect netting when sowing the edamame seeds if possible.

Edamame enters the watering stage after flowering. (If edamame dries out, fewer pods will grow, and the harvest will decrease.) So I watered edamame plant regularly.

Especially this year, the rainy season was short, and there wasn’t much rain, so I watered the edamame almost every day. The watering period was from flowering to harvest. After the edamame flowers bloomed, I made sure to water it regularly.

I think it’s best to water edamame plant in the morning if possible. (Plants do photosynthesis most actively in the morning.)

Edamame harvest time (Picking edamame bean plants)

When to harvest the edamame beans? You can tell when to harvest edamame by looking at the pods. Look at the pods on one edamame plant. If about 70% of them are plump, it’s time to harvest.

How to harvest edamame plants? Pull up the whole edamame plant from the base to harvest it.

You can also choose and pick the plump pods one by one, but that’s quite a hassle, so I always harvest the whole plant. Being able to harvest edamame with the stems is a special joy of home gardening. When you harvest edamame, definitely try pulling up the whole plant.

Edamame loses freshness easily, and the flavor fades over time. It doesn’t store well, so I only harvest what I will eat that day. I’ll harvest the rest of the edamame later and enjoy it then.

Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.

Edamame beans harvest time (Picking edamame bean plants) – Full grown edamame plant – YouTube