Is something wrong with my Shallots?

[mcpbowman]

Hello all,

It's nice to have found what seems to be an active and helpful community!

I was hoping to get a bit of advice on why my shallots seem to have given up.
I started them of in modules and planted them out at the end of March/early April but over the past couple of weeks they just seem to be turning yellow and flopping over.

I only started on this plot in February so I'm not sure what was in the soil before these went in but I didn't add too much manure when I dug the soil over because I was originally going to put leeks here. In the photo you can see a bare bit of soil to the left of the shallots, there used to be paving slabs here and the soil is quite compacted. After about a spades depth there is is some pretty heavy clay in this area but I dug the rest of the bed quite well so didn't think it would be too much of a problem but maybe that's the reason.

I did dig one up to see any evidence of rot or mould but couldn't see much. The neighbors shallots seem to be perfectly fine.

If you have any experience with shallots and/or this problem then I would be very grateful for some advice, I'm new to this so willing to learn from my mistakes for next year!

Thank you in advance!

[mcdood]

Hi Mcpbowman, do you know if your site suffers with allium leaf miner?

[Jay-ell]

Have you fed them, they may need some nitrogen.

[mcpbowman]

Hi Mcdood - I think it might do actually, I've heard people talking about it but nobody seems to have netted their alliums. Does this look like their handy work?

Jay-ell - I gave them a feed with some liquid seaweed a couple of weeks a go so I was planning on doing the same again this weekend. Maybe I didn't give them enough...

[nickdub]

Hard to be sure from the photo, but from the info so far I'd say that your soil has probably been too dry - if so it may be a bit late for this year, but try giving each of them 2L of water direct from a can, if they perk up a bit repeat every few days until you get some soaking rain..

[Greenleaves]

I think they spent to long in modules and as a result think thier job is done

[Derbydal]

it's been a dry wind for the past month so that could have dried em out, but wev'e had a drop of rain today and we'll get some more over the next week ! try giving em a bit more feed ! atb Dal.

[Jungle Jane]

Don’t leaves fall over & start yellowing when they’re ready or are they nearly ready?

[mcpbowman]

Thank you for all the advice!
Hopefully all this rain will do them some good but next year I'll be sure to water them a bit more.
Good shout about the modules, I hadn't thought that it would have had as much of an affect but next year I'll put them straight in the ground.

Fingers crossed I can still get some (rather small) shallots!
Thanks again everyone!

[veggiechicken]

Hi and welcome
If the shallots are too small for eating, save them to replant next year.

[mcpbowman]

Hi and welcome
If the shallots are too small for eating, save them to replant next year.

Thank you!
Now that's a great idea! Would they need any special attention to make it through the winter? I presume the bulbs won't want to dry out too much.

[nickdub]

Thank you!
Now that's a great idea! Would they need any special attention to make it through the winter? I presume the bulbs won't want to dry out too much.

Actually the main thing is to get the bulbs dry on the outside over the summer - then to keep them in a cool but frost free spot for the early part of the winter. If they get too damp they may go mouldy or start to grow too soon.

BTW there's nothing wrong in principle with starting your shallots in modules, its just that you need to get them in the ground as soon as they have reasonable roots, which may well mean that there is very little top growth before you plant them.

[veggiechicken]

It may be best not to do what I do as I'm an experimental gardener but I have left some shallots in the ground all year and left them to multiply up.
It wasn't a deliberate plan - I forgot about them.
Seemed to work though!

[Aberdeenplotter]

Like onions, shallots are gross feeders and they benefit greatly from loads of manure /compost being dug into their growing area. They need to be kept moist(not wet). I start mine off in cell packs towards the end of December and then plant outonce they have a decent root system and decent tops on them subject of course to there being a decent mild spell.


They don't like competition from weeds and that doesn't seem to be a problem with yours so you have either been busy weeding or the ground doesn't even grow weeds very well. If it doesn't grow weeds well, it's unlikely to grow good shallots.


To be able to store over winter, they do need to be dried off well but if they survive they should grow well enough the following year.

[mcpbowman]

Thank you everyone for the advice.
I'm going to pull them up and see if I can save some for next year and if not, at least I will have learned my lesson (hopefully!).

As for the weeds, I'm just a keen weeder