Edamame (Soy) Beans

sandra255

I sowed 2 rows of Edamame beans.  It's been a struggle to get them to germinate because I suspect the soil was too cold (even though it said on the packet to plant April, May) but at last one or two began to poke through the soil in recent days.  Systematically, something has eaten each one as it gets a centimetre or high, yet I've got slug pellets down and besides being fenced in (we have deer problems) we've erected a net over the top to keep the butterflies off the cabbage sharing the same bed.  Anyone any ideas what this might be?  I've also started a few off via kitchen paper/root trainer methods but I'm reluctant to plant these two inch tall young plants out until I know what the problem is.

plant pauper

I blame earwigs but then I blame them for everything. Put down some earwig traps (scrunched up newspaper in a small flower pot) and see if it stops...bit late for your beans though.  

sandra255

Thanks.  I'll try that.  I need to know as a matter of interest but I don't think I'll put my young Edamame plants in that bed.  Yesterday I transferred four of them into containers and will grow on from there I think.  Disappointing though.

Nanny Beach

I tried last year, said they just be grown in a heated propogator, did that a couple germinated, got to about 3 inches, keeled over and that was it, gave up at that point.

sandra255

Disappointing.  All the stuff I've read didn't indicate that they were difficult but it doesn't look promising.  I've put two or three in each of two pots now and am seeing if they will germinate outside as well as the ones I started from kitchen paper/root trainers which I've potted up and are so far doing okay.

Skandi

We did some at work (by some I mean about 300m in a row) sowed them in June direct, did not get a crop, too cold a summer and too far north I suspect.

Loraine3

Monty was planting these on last night's programme. Planted some now and was keeping some to be planted in a couple of weeks.

sandra255

We're on the south coast of England, so I'd hoped for better results, Skandi.  Having said that, I wasn't convinced that the soil had reached 60 deg F.  And yes, I saw Monty's piece on them.  Good idea to hold some back.  Since I posted this we've realised that there is a very limited access to the veg bed where I sowed them, but sufficient to let say a determined badger, fox and most certainly a squirrel in.  Some Brussels sprouts in the same bed have had their growing centres eaten.  We've blocked the access, but stable doors and all that...