Soybeans, you kidding me

[HiPoha]

Paid $4.00 plus shipping for a packet of 15 soybean seeds. Planted them and waited over two months. Picked them today. Awww... is that all, barely a bowl full of the pods. What's wrong here. Looks like I got gypped.
For less than $2, I can buy a block of tofu made with a hundred times this amount of soybeans.
What now, do I pull the plants out? Or will they bear again.

[Worth1]

Looks like you have about 50 seeds there.
Plant those next year and and the year after that and so on.
Sell them at the price you paid and you will be rich in no time.

Worth

[HiPoha]

Worth, too late. They were already boiled when I took the photo. Ate them afterwards.

[Worth1]

I dont see any reason they wont produce more like any bean.

Worth

[Zeedman]

If I may ask, what was the variety? Soybeans are daylength sensitive; those that perform best in the mainland U.S. will tend to perform poorly in tropical latitudes. Most of the commercial edamame cultivars sold by mainland seed companies are adapted to long days. The variety Kohala was developed for Hawaii (I've seen several variations on the spelling). I grow a lot of soybeans (over 70 varieties) but in my climate, they wouldn't have a chance to bear a second crop, even if they were inclined to do so. It might be worth trying in Hawaii; but if you don't see new growth and/or flowers within a few weeks, it might be best just to pull the plants & start over. Although at that price, I'd give the plants a little more time... that is some expensive seed. Wish I could send you some of mine, but I doubt that anything which is adapted to Wisconsin will prosper in Hawaii. If you really want to grow large amounts of edamame, I would suggest that you contact your local Ag Extension. They should be able to recommend other varieties appropriate to your climate. If you are still unable to get help, send me a PM, and I will give you additional recommendations.

[HiPoha]

Zeedman, my soybean seeds were Midori Giant. The plants sure didn't look like giants nor the pods. Plants grew to about 10" high with four to five pods per plant.
I have planted another expensive variety(same price ), Lucky Lion. The picture on the cover shows big bunches of pods per plant. I hope they do better. Will know in two months.

[kurt]

Originally Posted by HiPoha

Paid $4.00 plus shipping for a packet of 15 soybean seeds. Planted them and waited over two months. Picked them today. Awww... is that all, barely a bowl full of the pods. What's wrong here. Looks like I got gypped.
For less than $2, I can buy a block of tofu made with a hundred times this amount of soybeans.
What now, do I pull the plants out? Or will they bear again.

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/seeds.asp#soybean
Looks like the pricing is mo better,I get some of my other seeds from these guys since I am close to the same climate.

[Stvrob]

HiPoha. The same thing happened to me. I grew a variety "Early Hakucho". The plants grew fine but I hardly got any soybeans. Maybe Im at latitude 30. Maybe there are different varieties for lower latitudes?

[HiPoha]

Thanks everybody. I'll purchase the Kahala soybeans at $6/pound .There will be more seeds than I have spaces to plant them. The long summer days coming up should be ideal for them. Will post results in two months.

[Zeedman]

Midori Giant is an early variety, bred for the higher latitudes... and while the seed may be giant, the plants are short & only moderately productive, even in my climate. Early Hakucho is an even earlier variety, with small seeds on short plants. Neither is well adapted to tropical latitudes. The Kahala in Kurt's link is the one I was recommending for tropical climates, and at $6.00 per pound, the price is very reasonable.

[Stvrob]

Zeedman, you think kahala would be appropriate just out of the tropics? Say 30 N?

[Zeedman]

Stvrob, Kahala is adapted to Hawaii, around 20 N degrees. To put that in context, I am at 44 N, and there is about 14 degrees of difference between our locations. ***** In my experience, when a soybean is grown South of its preferred latitude, it tries to blossom early, resulting in a short plant with a small yield. Soybeans grown North of their preferred latitude grow lush growth, but flower late... and for me, late means they could not mature before frost. That late maturity would probably not be an issue in Florida. ***** But you might have a better option open to you. The National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) developed a line of edamame soybeans, some of which are adapted to the mid-southern latitudes of the U.S.. The latest cultivar in the line is in Maturity Group V (that's Roman numeral 5), which is adapted to as far South as northern Alabama. That makes it far closer to your latitude than Kahala, so it would probably do better for you. They will send samples free to gardeners upon request. You can find contact info - and learn a great deal more about soybeans - at this link: http://www.nsrl.illinois.edu/general...ensoyavailable
***** The NSRL edamame soybean line is called "Gardensoy"; I grow two of them adapted for my latitude, and the one I grew last year (Gardensoy 24) out-produced all of my other edamame. ***** Sorry about all the (**), for some reason paragraph breaks are deleted when I save posts... probably to discourage long-winded people like myself.

[Stvrob]

Thanks Zeedman. I am definitely going to look into this. As pathetic as my little soybean crop was last year, the kids devoured them and proclaimed them to be delicious!

[Stvrob]

Zeedman:
I contacted the NSRI at the link you had above and they suggested I grow Gardensoy 41. They are going to put a packet in the mail for me. Thanks for setting us straight on the edamame/daylength issue!
It will be pushing May 1 by the time I get the seed planted. You think it will be too late for gardensoy 41? Sometime in June the rainy season starts here and the humidity and heat and daily rain make most vegetables impracticle. However blackeyes and other cowpeas can take the heat. What about soybeans?

[Zeedman]

In my climate, soybeans like the same heat & plentiful soil moisture as cowpeas. They flourished in the record rainfall we had in 2010. Not sure how they would respond to your humidity, but they should be OK. My only concern would be soybean rust, if that is endemic to your area.