Divisi
How to grow Soybean
Glycine max · Fabaceae
Photo: H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0
Soybean (Glycine max) is a bushy, knee-high bean grown for a seed that is rich in protein and oil — good to eat, good to sell, and it leaves the soil richer for whatever you plant next. Its secret is underground: tiny helper germs called rhizobia live in little lumps (nodules) on its roots and pull nitrogen straight out of the air, so a well-nodulated crop feeds itself and needs almost no nitrogen fertiliser. Two things decide your season — soil that is not too sour (sour, acid soil starves the crop and stops the root germs working), and coating the seed with the right germ powder (inoculant) on sowing day. Get those right, keep the young crop weed-free until its leaves close over, water it through flowering and pod-fill, and guard the leaves against rust while the pods fill.
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Days to maturity
- 90–150 days
- Row spacing
- 50 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 6 cm
- Sowing depth
- 3–4 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will soybean actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Soybean
sojaboon · soybean · soya bean · soja · soya
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing soybean, stage by stage
Your soybean season from field to store: sweeten sour soil months ahead, coat the seed with its helper germs on sowing day, keep it weed-free until the leaves close over, water it hard through flowering and pod-fill, catch leaf rust early, then harvest gently and seal the dry beans before storage beetles get in.
- Get your field, seed and root-germ ready
- Coat the seed, sow, and get a full stand
- Grow the frame, keep it clean, check the roots
- Flowering — protect the pods you're about to set
- Fill the pods and finish clean
- Harvest before the pods shatter
- Dry gently and seal against beetles
21 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for soybean — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack soybean
10 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your soybean right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does soybean take to grow?
Soybean takes about 90–150 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for soybean?
Space soybean rows about 50 cm apart, with roughly 6 cm between plants within the row.
How deep should soybean be planted?
Sow soybean at about 3–4 cm deep. Shallower risks drying out; deeper wastes seed energy before the shoot reaches light.
What pests and diseases attack soybean?
The ones covered in this guide are Asian soybean rust, Bean fly, Bollworm complex. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow soybean with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first