Index

• Sowing Instructions (Indoors)
• How to Transplant
• Sowing Instructions (Outside)
• Crop Maintenance
• How to Harvest
• Storage
• Pests & Diseases

Sowing Instructions (Indoors)

• Shallots can be started from seeds or bulb sets
• Sowing Time: Seeds can be sown under glass in late winter & early spring
• Sowing Location: In 3 inch pots or in seed trays, two seeds per tray cell, thin to one later
• Sow using a general potting compost and perlite mix at 3:1
• Water soil well before sowing, and keep pots or trays moist at all times

How to Transplant

• Transplant outdoors from mid March onwards once the seedlings are large enough to handle
• Space seedlings 10 to 15cm apart in rows 20cm apart

Sowing Instructions (Outdoors)

• Shallots are hardy
• Sowing Time: Mostly sown outdoors from February to March for a late summer harvest
• The variety Matador can be sown in autumn & over wintered
• Over wintered & early sown shallots should be protected using a garden cloche and should be planted in a sheltered location
• Sowing Location: A sunny site
• Soil: A free draining and light soil is most suitable
• Dig & manure your soil the previous autumn if possible
• Make sure to remove any stones, weeds & weed roots while preparing soil
• Lightly rake growing area and then prepare drills
• Prepaing the drill: Create a drill 1cm deep, sow seeds thinly or 3 or 4 every 15 cm
• Lightly press seeds into the base of this drill, close drill with soil & water well

Crop Maintenance

• Before sowing it is recommended that you add a general fertiliser such as growmore or poultry manure
• Thin seedlings once they have developed 2 leaves
• Dispose of all thinnings to avoid attracting the onion fly
• Spacing is important. Close spacing for smaller onions and wider spacing for larger shallots
• Keep shallots watered
• Weed regularly

Harvesting

• Shallots are different from onions in that one shallot blub will split into many similar sized bulbs while an onion bulb will just grow larger without splitting
• Wait for foliage to turn yellow and begin to die back
• Water well one week before harvesting
• Use a garden fork to lift the bulbs from the soil to break the roots
• The following week, harvest crops by pulling from soil
• Like onions: On a dry day place your shallots out in the sun
• Depending on the size of your shallots and weather conditions it can take up to 4 weeks for them to dry

Storage

• For short term storage place in your fridge
• Can be stored for up to 7 months in a cool dry place, where humidity is low

Pests and Disease

• Susceptible to bolting, where the shallot rushes to produce a flower in dry weather
• Onion Fly: Not common, but can cause severe damage to crops
• Notice by crops turning yellow and witling early
• Cause: The onion fly lays eggs and the larve from these eggs burrow into bulbs