When Do Edamame Mature? A Detailed Guide to Growing Methods

Among many spicy dishes, boiled edamame is very popular with everyone, because edamame easily absorbs flavor and tastes fragrant. Edamame is grown in all parts of our country, and its requirements for the growing environment are not very high, but to achieve high yields it must be managed properly. Let us learn together below what season edamame matures in? How to grow it?

1. What season does edamame mature in?

For spring sowing, sow from late March to early April (protected cultivation can be appropriately earlier), and harvest from June to July; for summer sowing, sow from late April to June, and harvest from July to September; for autumn sowing, sow from July to August, and harvest from September to October. Early-maturing varieties are generally rushed to market early, that is, after entering the seed-filling stage, they can be harvested successively and can fetch a good price.

But it should not be too early, otherwise the beans will be shriveled and small, with poor market quality and low yield, which instead affects economic returns. Medium- and late-maturing varieties are generally harvested when the beans are already plump and the pods are still green, but it should not be too late either, otherwise the beans become hard and quality is reduced.

2. How is edamame grown?

1. Select good varieties

Choose varieties with large grains, good taste, dense pod set, and pods and seeds that are both green at harvest. For example, soybean varieties such as Taiwan 292, Beifeng No. 3, and Zhongdou 30; if no special varieties are available, Aijiaozao, Xiangchundou No. 10, and others can also be used. The seeding rate is 6-8 kg per mu.

2. Raise seedlings under film

Two sowings can be arranged. Generally around “Jingzhe” the first batch can be sown by seizing clear weather; choose a sandy loam paddy field or dry soil that is sheltered from wind, sunny, loose in texture, and with good drainage as the seedbed site. It is not suitable to choose sticky loam with poor permeability as the seedbed, because sticky loam easily causes water accumulation in the seedbed and leads to seed rot and seedling death; the seedbed can be made into beds 140 cm wide to facilitate film covering and lifting seedlings during transplanting; after deep plowing, fine preparation, and leveling of the seedbed, sow. Generally, a bed surface 3.5 m long can be sown with 3 kg; after sowing, cover the seeds with fine soil. If the soil is dry, water once, with the bed surface thoroughly moistened as the standard; some rice straw can also be appropriately spread, which has the effect of keeping warm and moist and reducing seed rot and seedling death caused by soil crusting; after covering the seeds, use small bamboo poles 2 cm long to make arches on the bed surface at a spacing of about 1 m, cover with film, and press the surroundings tightly with soil blocks; after the first batch of seedlings is transplanted, promptly sow the second batch in the original seedbed, and transplant promptly when the seedlings reach the 2-leaf stage; during the seedbed period, strengthen management of heat preservation, moisture retention, waterlogging prevention, weed control, and hardening of seedlings.

3. Transplant at the right time

Choose sunny slope soil or mountainous dry fields for planting. When 50% of the seedlings in the seedbed reach the 2-leaf stage, transplant promptly, preferably seizing the time after rain to transplant; before transplanting, first deeply plow and finely prepare the soil, then open furrows at a row spacing of 33 cm, with a furrow width of 15 cm, and then transplant 2 rows or 1 row of seedlings on both sides of the furrow at a plant spacing of 20-25 cm; when transplanting, 20 kg of phosphate fertilizer and 10 kg of plant ash per mu can be applied as base fertilizer.

4. Careful management

After transplanting, strengthen management such as intertillage, topdressing, weeding, and pest control. Generally, when the seedlings are 20-30 cm tall, carry out intertillage and weeding promptly; preferably before rain, combined with intertillage and according to seedling condition, apply a seedling-promoting fertilizer at 7-10 kg of urea per mu; generally according to actual conditions, use chemicals once to control rodent damage, and twice to control aphids, bean pod borers, and stink bugs; for pest control chemicals, choose pyrethroid pesticides that are safe for humans and livestock, and require unified application and centralized use.