Shallot stripping!

[Snadger]

Sorry about the thread title but It sums up what this is about.

Rightly or wrongly I always strip the husk from my shallots once they are established and the husk is still moist. I've never seen this mentioned in gardeneing books but it works for me. The husk is no longer feeding the plant by now and just rots.

What invariably happens is the shallots seem to be confined by the husk and as soon as it gets warm it dries out and constricts their growth.
If its carefully stripped off you can almost hear the plant give a sigh of relief, like when a woman takes a corset off!

Anyone else go shallot stripping?

[Alison]

No never done that but then again I've never felt the need to remove a woman's corset either

[Bigmallly]

Never heard of it Snadge but may be worth keeping an eye out. Don't want mi shallots to be restricted.......

[veggiechicken]

Waddya mean by the Husk, Snadge? Is it the brown skin on the shallot?

Its a long long time since I removed my corsets ........................can't get the whalebone any more

[Snadger]

Waddya mean by the Husk, Snadge? Is it the brown skin on the shallot?

Its a long long time since I removed my corsets ........................can't get the whalebone any more

Yes Veggie. We often have peeps worried about the outer husk dying on onion sets, but you and i both know this is just a food source for the plant until it can put down roots and start topgrowth.

The same applies to shallots but the difernce is there are multiple plants enclosed in it and desperate to make their own way in life!

[Tripmeup]

Yep Snadger, I do it with my saved potato onions...

[veggiechicken]

Ta Snadge.
I've had to open up the top to release the new green leaves but never considered going further down the husk. It would be difficult as most of them are underground. Or am I planting them too deep?
You're worrying me now - I may not sleep tonight

[Snadger]

Ta Snadge.
I've had to open up the top to release the new green leaves but never considered going further down the husk. It would be difficult as most of them are underground. Or am I planting them too deep?
You're worrying me now - I may not sleep tonight

They must be Australian shallots you have!