Pigletwillies Banana Shallot Seed update

[Protea]

Been away for the weekend, got back very early this morning and when i eventually made it out of bed i was greeted by lots of little germinated shallot seedlings!! Hurrah!

Having never grown onions or shallots from seeds before i was suprised at how thin the seed leaf is! Some are at the crook stage, others still at loop - i'm worried about damaging them when transplanting as they are so tiny - should i wait for another leaf to form before moving, or are they tough enough to handle it?

The plan is to transplant them to several trays/pots more spaced out and put in my semi-heated greenhouse, which is cooler than my windowsill where they've been germinating.

[kentish girl]

Thanks for the seeds, i think I will sow them next week on 1/2 term after the predicted snow !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pigletwillie]

Hi Protea, prick them out at the crook stage as belive it or not they are a bit like icebergs, lots more underneath than is visible on top. Leave them too long and you will be trying to get 8" of fine root into a dibber hole when you prick out.

Onion leaves are strap like and quite tough but still be gentle with them. I have pricked out nearly 600 banana shallots recently and lost about three.

Over four thousand seeds have now been distributed, all gratis (unlike the farmer who charges £5 for 20 seeds, thats £1k worth), several packets have gone to Eire and Belgium recently.

[Protea]

Thanks Piglewillie,

They will have to wait until the weekend unfortunately, but they've all germinated at different times so i'm sure most will be OK.

Is there a depth of pot i should be aiming at or are seed trays OK to transplant to? Sorry for all the questions!

many thanks!

[mandyballantyne]

I put about 40 seeds in the propigater on Saturday on a sunny window ledge, Looking forward to them saying hello.

Mandy

[Fezinio]

Well after my disastrous first attempt my second attempt finally coming good.

six of ten planted in a unheated propagator now a crook stage.

will be planting some more very soon

[Alice]

The germination rate on my first sowing was very low, but the ones that did make it are starting into their second leaves (?) well shoot things and looking very healthy. What do you call the shoots ?
My second sowing is coming through, but again the germination looks low. They've been kept in a room about 23 degrees, with the tray in a freezer bag so surface doesn't dry out. Any ideas ?

[pigletwillie]

None at all Alice, mine were sown into 4 inch pots in an unheated greenhouse and the germination was excellent.

They are all pricked out now into modules and as the unheated greenhouse is now the heated one, they are moving tommorow to the allotment to the unheated greenhouse there. Out of 600 seedlings pricked put I have lost about 10 which were replaced with spares. The leaves are about 3" high now and looking well.

[Alice]

Maybe they don't want to germinate at too high a temperature then. I think I'll try a cool sowing. Thanks.

[mandyballantyne]

Half of mine have come through now just tiny on Saturday but now they are about 1 1/2 inches!!! Time to get them re poted I think....

When should they be planted out?

Mandy

[Dobby]

We started ours off last week, and so far have had about 20 come up in the propagator, so have just took the lid off to stop them getting too leggy!

Any ideas when we can move them into an unheated greenhouse, as we need to free up some windowsill space so we can get propagating some more seeds!

[bramble]

banana shallot seed

Seeds have gone to the following areas Alice

Scotland (all over)
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Somerset
Dorset
Devon
Cambridgeshire
Sufflok
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Lancashire
Oxfordshire
Yorkshire
London
Kent
Sussex
Surrey
Wiltshire (wierd)
Wales
Tyneside
Gloucestershire (Royal Forest of Dean) 12 toe country
Hereford

And Dublin, dont forget Dublin P W. Will keep you posted as to how they grow for me.

[Alice]

Hope they do great for you Bramble. Mine are into their second leaves - or whatever you call those spikey shoots. Can anybody supply a name. The weather here has ben very mild and they've been living outside most of the time. The forecast is for frost tonight so I've lifted them into the utility area and they can back out tomorrow.

[pigletwillie]

Mine were all turfed out of the greenhouse on Friday as its filling up with tomatoes et al and there they will stay bar a frost when they will go into the workshop over night.

The Banana Shallots saved for next years seed were planted in a raised bed today so those of you who want to grow more can have another pinch to last you until you have your own seed in late 2008 ready for the 2009 season.

[bramble]

Thanks Alice. Am only sowing them tomorrow so don't expect to have any news on that front until next week.
You seem to be doing well with your peppers and your banana shallots.
Good Luck, and the race is on.