[shokkyy]

Last year my entire shallot crop was a joke, no rotting or obvious problems but so tiny they were fairly useless. This year I was meticulous about spacing, feeding, watering, weeding, and the results were better than last year but still not great. I did some red shallots and some golden. The reds are generally a better size than the golden. A few of each have rotted but not many. There are a few clumps with decent sized shallots but more than half are ridiculously tiny.

I'm growing them in a raised bed, only 6" deep but filled with good imported topsoil which I top up every year with fresh topsoil. I'm feeding with BFB and watering regularly. The bed has excellent drainage and never gets waterlogged. I can't remember the varieties but they were good quality stock bought from Wyevale and planted at the spacing recommended on the pack. The Hercules onions grown in the same bed next to them look absolutely fine, not huge but a decent size.

What am I doing wrong?

[DavidT]

Shokky, if you want large shallots, plant SMALL sets. 

[sunshineband]

I'm not sure why they are so small (I read David's advice and I can honestly say that I just plant the size that comes in the packet -- all of them  )

Do you keep them weed free? I know this can affect final size of onions so I guess it will affect shallots as well. Even a few days of weeds can have an effect 

[DavidT]

Strange as it may sound, if you want LARGE shallots, plant SMALL sets.
If you want SMALL shallots plant LARGE sets.

[sunshineband]

I wasn't arguing Davis, merely saying that I plant all of them in the packet, both larger and smaller ones,  and they all seem to get on with it and produce decent enough shallots which are good enough fer me 

[shokkyy]

I'm not sure why they are so small (I read David's advice and I can honestly say that I just plant the size that comes in the packet -- all of them  )

Do you keep them weed free? I know this can affect final size of onions so I guess it will affect shallots as well. Even a few days of weeds can have an effect 

Yes, I do weed them. And there's never much to weed anyway because the raised beds just never seem to get a lot of weeds. I can't remember the recommended spacing on the packets, but do you think it might be because they were too close together? I do tend to cram a lot into my raised beds so I'm not generous on spacing, but I followed the minimum spacing on both shallots and onions and the onions seem fine.

[sunshineband]

I put mine about 7-8 ins apart in raised beds.

Does that help at all?

[shokkyy]

I put mine about 7-8 ins apart in raised beds.

Does that help at all?

That's definitely further apart than mine. I can't remember which was which (onions/shallots) but I think one pack said 4" apart and the other said 6" apart. I suspect shallots was 6" and onions 4". Maybe that's the problem. And do you measure that distance from the edge of each set you're planting, or from the centre of it? That might sound a silly question but if I did it the wrong way that would knock an inch off it. I can't really tell now they're grown, because they have moved around a bit (sometimes quite a lot, which makes me wonder if the birds had a hand in it) and the top growth is all over the place.

[sunshineband]

I just use a handspan rough measurement tbh. Birds can pull them up by the little strawy bit on the top so I often trim these off (or get the children at school to do it in that garden)

but then I don't grow hundreds of them just a couple of dozen.


You might have identified the size issue for next year, d'you think?

[shokkyy]

I just use a handspan rough measurement tbh. Birds can pull them up by the little strawy bit on the top so I often trim these off (or get the children at school to do it in that garden)

but then I don't grow hundreds of them just a couple of dozen.


You might have identified the size issue for next year, d'you think?

Yes, I have a suspicion that might be the problem. I was only growing a couple of dozen too, but I was trying to cram as much garlic, red shallot, gold shallot and onion as possible into a single 4' X 8' bed. Never enough space for everything you want to grow, is there. You should see my raised bed crammed with tomatoes and courgettes, that's looking seriously overcrowded but fingers crossed they all seem to be thriving and growing loads of fruit

[sunshineband]

Some things don't seem to mind how crowded they are , but with onions and shallots it does matter, and they even react badky to sharing with a feww weeds, as I said.

Better luck with them next year -- probably have the same weight, just larger ones I hope 

[shokkyy]

Some things don't seem to mind how crowded they are , but with onions and shallots it does matter, and they even react badky to sharing with a feww weeds, as I said.

Better luck with them next year -- probably have the same weight, just larger ones I hope 

I'll remember that for the future and try to restrain myself next year

Thanks for all your help, sunshineband.

[sunshineband]

You're very welcome --let's hope it works 

[Salmo]

When do you plant them?

They need a long season to grow to their full potential. Traditionally plant on the shortest day (Dec 21st) and harvest on the longest day.

Certainly pre Christmas plantings usually seem to outyield post Christmas plantings. Very early Spring maybe better on heavy or wet soil but if you  leave them until late March or April and the yield will suffer.

[shokkyy]

When do you plant them?

They need a long season to grow to their full potential. Traditionally plant on the shortest day (Dec 21st) and harvest on the longest day.

Certainly pre Christmas plantings usually seem to outyield post Christmas plantings. Very early Spring maybe better on heavy or wet soil but if you  leave them until late March or April and the yield will suffer.

I planted the garlic in late autumn but the shallots I planted in the first week of March, as recommended on the packets. Are all shallots better planted pre Christmas or are some varieties over-wintering and others not, same as onions?