[arh]

Please, can some one give me the name of a variety of shallot that is, on average, a small size of shallot. The ones that I grew this year, (my first year), turned out to be huge, in fact my son took the large ones home with him to eat as onions in salads etc. They were in excess of 3"in diameter, and the rest aren't small, , too big to use as pickled shallots/onions. Not sure what I'll do with them, try and pickle the smallest ones and use the rest as small onions I guess. I bought them from Wilco's labeled as "Shallots" . Thank you. arh.

[New shoot]

Red Sun are a good one for pickling size and are pretty widely available.  Our local garden centre had a fill a bag offer of loose ones this year that worked out as good value, though probably dearer than the ones you got.  They have a pinkish colour that is very attractive in the jar if you use white malt vinegar. 

 

[arh]

Thank you for the reply Hun, I will try them next year. arh.

[bazial]

Hi
    I grew Red Sun Shallots this year for pickling this year instead of pickling onion seed as I do every year  .
   I got a bag from 2 different well know seed suppliers and both have become to big for pickling and are still
   growing.

[New shoot]

If you want to store shallots it is important to let them fully mature in the ground.  If you want to pickle them straight away, you can pull them earlier.  I often have when I have been tempted by a bargain basement priced bag and planted them very late, so they have run out of summer.

Some of mine are totally confused by the weather this year and started to bolt.  They think they in year 2 and its time to flower.  i only say this as if shallots are still actively growing, they need checking to see if they are forming flower stalks rather than bulking up.

If you can get hold of a multiplier onion like potato onions, they are small and make ideal pickles.  Despite the name, they grow exactly the same as shallots do 

[arh]

Thank you for the reply New Shoot, I have a feeling that I pulled my shallots too early, I didn't appreciate that each bulb may split into multiple shallots if left longer. Next year I'll leave them in until the tops die off. Experience is only won one way, .

[AnneB]

Thank you for the reply New Shoot, I have a feeling that I pulled my shallots too early, I didn't appreciate that each bulb may split into multiple shallots if left longer. Next year I'll leave them in until the tops die off. Experience is only won one way, .

Did you grow your shallots from seed arh?  If so, they won't split and multiply.  Only shallots grown from a single set do that.  I usually do both types each year.   The seed sown ones (I grow Zebrune) tend to be much bigger.

[arh]

No hun, I grew them from sets, reading back through my diary pages I find that they were indeed "Red Sun". We live and learn,  , thank you for the info, a bit more info taken in. I knew that only sets develop multiples and that seeds only develop singles, what I didn't appreciate was that these multiples also split into smaller units. arh.