Success with shallots from seed

[Cutecumber]

Yesterday I harvested my first two batches of shallots that I grew from seed.
I have been trialling Matador, Ambition and Prisma. They were all sown and grown as identically as possible and all have behaved similarly.

They were sown at the beginning of February - a month earlier than the packets suggested - in small plugs. Once they were growing well I planted them about two inches apart in pots. I kept them in the greenhouse until they settled in and then put them outside. They grew steadily until a few weeks ago when they stopped expanding (fortunately - they're not small!).

They are quite perfect bulbs - symmetrical and bigger than most I have grown before. There are no "runts" or giants, they are all identical in size.

The reason I chose to try them from seed was because of limited space. By planting individual plantlets I could get a lot more in a pot. No waste of space because of unpredictable splitting of the bulbs. I have had shallots split into anywhere between 2 and 12 bulbs in the past, with no idea of why the difference occurred.

They are drying off now, and I have still to taste them, but I'm impressed so far. I really hope they cook and store well.

[Stacey Steve]

Are the seeds widely available?

[Cutecumber]

I have never found any in my local garden centres but I order all my seeds online anyway.

Matador from Nicky's Seeds or Kings' Seeds
Prisma from Thompson & Morgan
Ambition from Marshalls and Tuckers.

[Snadger]

Interesting thread cutecumber. I wonder if you kept some of the bulbs for next year, would they grow ok or run to seed? also did each seed make one bulb?

Are they long like eschallots? ............ any chance of a piccie?

[Cutecumber]

I'll get a pic up this evening. They look like flattened onions, nothing like the french shallots. Each seed made one bulb. I sowed a couple in each plug and thinned down to one each. Germination rates were good for the first batch (early and cold!) and virtually 100% for the next batch. I even pricked some of the extras out of the plugs and replanted them (i.e. disturbed the roots quite a lot!) and they were fine.

Unfortunately, I believe they are all F1, so I am not sure what will happen if I plant them. It's not the way to go if you want never to buy a shallot or seed again, I grant you.

I have some more pots in which I packed them more tightly, and the shallots are smaller - I might keep a few of these to try.