Planting guide

When to plant edamame

Fresh soybeans in the pod, a fun snack that fixes nitrogen in the soil. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 10–14 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means edamame can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant edamame

Sow seed 3 cm deep once soil is warm.
Keep moist during flowering and pod fill.
Harvest when pods are plump but still green.
Boil in salted water for 5 minutes.

Edamame varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Midori Giant Classicgiant · 11–14 wksLarge green soybean pods ready to steam
Butterbean Classicsweet · 10–13 wksButtery edamame variety; easy to grow
Envy Classicfast · 10–13 wksQuick-maturing edamame for short seasons
Black Soy Bean Adventurouscolourful · 13–16 wksBlack-seeded soy; use fresh as edamame or dry

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Corn, Cucumber, Carrot

Edamame by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Dwarf Green Bean · Climbing Bean · Pea · Broad Bean · Peanut · Shelling bean

Not sure edamame is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now