Saving Shallotts for seed

[Plot22]

I have not grown shallots for a number of years as my wife was against making culinary use of the small type when she had an alternative with large onions. This year however I have grown Longor a long gourmet type and the results have been fantastic. My wife has used then in curries and other such dishes and they seem to make a positive difference to the taste. My question is - Can I save some of them as seed for next year and if so are they like garlic where I plant the larger sets to get a bigger crop? My fear is that they will not keep until next Spring and I will have to purchase new sets which are not cheap.

[Plot22]

[BarriedaleNick]

Yes you can keep them and replant them next year and generally speaking if you keep planting the bigger ones then you should get big shallots.
They do keep really well if stored somewhere cool and dry.

However you have to make sure that they aren't diseased in any way so look out for and signs of rot or rust and discard any that don't look in top condition.

[ed dibbles]

I have no personal experience with this shallot variety but it sounds like a goodie. An online search says that they store well so should be alright till planting time comes round again.

And yes I think you will be able to replant without having to buy fresh assuming your wife leaves you any to plant by then.

The usual advice is small sets produce a small number of larger bulbs and a large set splits into a large number of smaller bulbs. My experience is that this is a very generalized piece of advice indeed.

I usually plant ones just above the middle size of my previous crop with generally good results. The good ones I have now must be F1 hybrids because they came from a reduced supermarket bag for 10p! This is now their third year!!

Last year as an experiment I opted for an autumn planting as opposed to my usual january greenhouse start, march plant out regime. I lost about two thirds of the planting over the winter so I won't be doing that again.

Good luck with the keeping the Longor going. Shouldn't be a problem. 

[antipodes]

I have done this but I am afraid to say that I did not get such good results. Firstly I find it hard to get the shallots to last all winter. Secondly I have done a mixed planting with saved bulbs and new sets and the new sets gave a much better result. It is annoying as the sets are expensive but I found it was a waste of time to plant my own saved. they produce rather spindly shallots.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Two years ago, I was given some shallots by a neighbour. I'd always got such dreadful results that I'd given up on the things. I planted them and got the usual rubbish crop. So I kept them and planted them in a raised bed, about midwinter, when I happened to have one ready. They've flourished and given a good crop, but once again I'm keeping them to bulk them up. It's easy enough, and you don't need to keep them all winter. Dry them, hang them somewhere cool and dry till October, and plant them.

[Vinlander]

The key thing here is that they are the long type of shallots - and there are TWO kinds (and two meanings of 'seed').

Most farmers grow them from actual tiny black seeds because they do really well so they get the same return from a tiny fraction of the investment (and it's easy to save your own seedheads - so they cost nothing).

These type are notorious for not growing well from offsets - you get some but massive wastage - so if you can't be certain they weren't grown from seed (or as offsets from a recent year's seed-grown crop) then don't even bother unless you have lots of spares - you may be lucky and find enough genetic variation to end up with one or two of  the other kind that you can re-plant.

The other kind have been selected and bred over decades or centuries to work like ordinary shallots - but since they are nicer than the short type and very rare you will have to pay through the nose for them - and what you buy might still be a short-lived strain - there's no way of knowing unless you know the grower personally or pay even more for a really reputable source.

MORAL - grow them from actual tiny black seeds - you won't be disappointed!

Cheers.

[Russell]

Just for clarification, if propagating from your own crop always choose the biggest clumps by weight irrespective of the number and size of the individual bulbs. Then select the bulbs from the clumps according to whatever rules seem like a good idea to you at the time. The small clumps of course are eaten. If you have already eaten your best clumps through a total lack of restraint, go and buy some new seed bulbs for next year. Do not propagate from weak clumps they could be diseased.