Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: A Reyt Tayty on April 15, 2012, 10:35
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Can you save shallots to use them as sets the following year?
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Yes. That is what I am growing this year. :)
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That's normally how it works
Shallots are not very successful grown from seed and rarely done
Bring them on in pots first to get a strong root system, then plant out when strong enough
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msChMu5lVcw/T1NnwFQUqBI/AAAAAAAAAd8/7_DvSel9PS0/s320/2012_0304Update0004.JPG)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ApazufqQkh8/T2TjikvMkcI/AAAAAAAAAfg/HirN1f-LWMs/s320/2012_0317Weekend-Update0001.JPG)
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Oh dear...had mine in since last year and not a sign of green...maybe theys deed... :wub:
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don't give up yet Auntiemogs - if the soil is cold, they'll be a little slower at making an appearance.
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Mine took ages too Auntiemogs, they just started showing last week.
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Thanks guys, I shall give them another month. Glad to know I can save some for next year (if they come up & I don't eat them all, that is :tongue2:). :)
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Just keep them dry and free from frost
Make sure you dry them out thoroughly at them end of the season
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That's normally how it works
Shallots are not very successful grown from seed and rarely done
Bring them on in pots first to get a strong root system, then plant out when strong enough
For the backyard or plot gardener who might easily have bought shallot sets, if they didn't save them from their previous crop, its perfectly acceptlble to plant them straight out in the ground.
:)
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Of course, but it's a good tip to start them off in pots as it is with onions sets
This allows the roots to get established and get a head start
I have always done it this way especially with onion sets and it saves me having to fill the gaps when the birds have pulled them out or they have simply rotted
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Of course, but it's a good tip to start them off in pots as it is with onions sets
This allows the roots to get established and get a head start
I have always done it this way especially with onion sets and it saves me having to fill the gaps when the birds have pulled them out or they have simply rotted
Seems a faff to start onion sets off first. If the birds pull them out (which they will!!!) just pop them back in the soil and they seem fine.
Just concious of that extra time, extra compost when for most there is no need. :)
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I won't say I've never had a shallot set pulled out, but if you trim off any loose wispy bits of dried stem from the tops before planting, and make sure only the very tip sticks out of the ground, the birds haven't got a great deal to go at.
The list of crops which people feel the need to pre-chit or start indoors in modules seems to be getting ever longer, and often it can be justified, but shallots won't be going on my list of something needing that sort of special treatment anytime soon.
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Oh dear...had mine in since last year and not a sign of green...maybe theys deed... :wub:
I would dig one up to see what is going on. If there are roots forming you are OK. If they are soft with no sign of life by now you are not.
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my shallots are realy well established now - the shoots are around 6-8 inch's - i will be putting some more pics on my dairy later on ;)
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Regarding onion/shallot sets - In my garden I have a border of shallots (about 8" of growth on top) and a growbag of shallots (just poking through but sown later).
Over Easter Weekend we took on an allotment and on Saturday I finished clearing it. I was thinking of getting some Onion sets from Wilko to put in (two Rhubarb crowns are all I've put in so far).
Would you consider it too late for Onion sets now (mid April feels too late, but maybe that's just because my shallots went in weeks and weeks ago)?
Thanks in advance for the response, I look forward to any help I get (can't wait for the weather to pick up so my allotment can get into full swing!)
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Hope that it's not too late as I only planted some red onion sets on Sunday as I didn't have enough seed germinate
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That's normally how it works
Shallots are not very successful grown from seed and rarely done
Bring them on in pots first to get a strong root system, then plant out when strong enough
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msChMu5lVcw/T1NnwFQUqBI/AAAAAAAAAd8/7_DvSel9PS0/s320/2012_0304Update0004.JPG)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ApazufqQkh8/T2TjikvMkcI/AAAAAAAAAfg/HirN1f-LWMs/s320/2012_0317Weekend-Update0001.JPG)
I notice that your shallots seem to be more or less sitting on top of the soil. I thought they needed to be buried with just the tips showing. Have I triumphed again?
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The above is just so they can develop roots I think, planted put they would be to the top... I think!
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Plant them the same as you would onion sets
Just sit them slightly in the soil
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Plant them the same as you would onion sets
Just sit them slightly in the soil
Yeah, but I put onion sets in so that just the top is showing. :blink:
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Don't worry, it's not that critical.
I completely bury, (just), onion sets & shallots. It stops the birds getting at them, and all that faffing with netting.
Others pull soil over them with a draw hoe to bury them, that soil will get wash away with the rain to leave the bulb exposed.
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It's simply a case of what suits you
Not everything works for everyone and there is more than one way to skin a cat
I am growing for exhibition, so am more precise about how I do certain things
That said, it doesn't necessarily mean it is the right of best way, just the best way for me
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I grow to put food on the plate.
As long as it tastes good and I can grow it without a lot of faffing, I'm happy. If I happen to get a magnificent specimen of something, it's a bonus and nothing more.
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related subject storing of shallots either for eating or sets. Last year I separated mine, let them dry off and laid them in a whicker basket in garage( well ventilated) when I went to get any they had all gone to mush. What did I do wrong?
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Two possibilities
1. They may have frozen in the winter
2. Not dry enough before you put them in the basket. Roots have got to be completely shrivelled and brittle
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Every year I try a little bit harder to make sure they are completely dried out before storing in a dry and frost-free place but still lose some. :(
The rot usually starts in one of two places - the neck, which is the hardest part to fully dry out as it contains the green remains of the leaves; twisting and pulling off what's left of the leaves helps, the other is when what looks like a single shallot is actually two "siamesed" together and it's the skin dividing them which doesn't dry, and I haven't found an answer for that one other than to eat them first (if I can identify them before it's too late! :unsure:)
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Well, just had a quick furtle around a couple of my shallots. One was all mooshy so I guess that's a gonner :( and the other had 2cm roots and felt quite firm. Still no sign of any top growth though. They're in a raised bed in fairly clay soil but I worked in some compost, sand and manure last year. Oh dear... :(
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I won't say I've never had a shallot set pulled out, but if you trim off any loose wispy bits of dried stem from the tops before planting, and make sure only the very tip sticks out of the ground, the birds haven't got a great deal to go at.
The list of crops which people feel the need to pre-chit or start indoors in modules seems to be getting ever longer, and often it can be justified, but shallots won't be going on my list of something needing that sort of special treatment anytime soon.
I agree with you JayG but if you can't get to the plot and want to get them going it's a sure way of making sure you give them a really good start rather than a late one through lack of time. ;)
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I start my shallots and onion sets (whenever I decide to grow any) the same way, except my container is smaller but taller. This gets them out of dormancy and rooting. By the time it's planting out time, they're already started and I can discard any that either rotted or haven't started leafing. When I plant them, I do bury them almost to the top of the bulb. Soon enough they'll push themselves back out.
This works for me.
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Works for me too...