[mark0912]

my shallots are ready to harvest. already had a few -  yummy!

question is can i save some for sets next year? if so how? would i dry them as with those i wish to store

they were overwintered from last November. Will they keep ok or are they like overwintering onions?

[WirralWally]

I always dry and keep a few to plant next year.
However, I have always found that, without exception, those of my own have never performed as well as any new stock that I have bought.

As an example, all my newly bought stock this year has produced 8 - 10 large bulbs per plant and my own sets have only produced 3 or 4 puny bulbs each.

This year I have resolved not to bother keeping my own sets for next year.
In my opinion it is not worth the effort.


But . . . . . . . . . don't worry; someone will be along shortly with a totally different opinion 
that's gardening !!

[JayG]

I seem to remember having a similar discussion before on here, and most folk seemed to agree that because saved shallots are genetically identical to their parent bulbs they perform exactly the same when replanted.

Despite that my own experience has been similar to WW's, so Wilco's it is again for me next year!

Some varieties keep better than others, but if you ripen, dry and store them well you should certainly still have some decent, firm bulbs for replanting early next year.

[Salmo]

I always save my own. They seem to adopt to my soil as the years go on.

I tend to go against general advice and plant quite big bulbs.

Make sure that you dry them well. As with onions, when they are dry you should dry some more.