Shallots..I think I may be losing it.

[Jeannine]

 This last week I have searched for shallot bulbs to plant with no luck. I could find seed but no bulbs. S I bought some form the supermarket and planted them. Then I looked it up on the net and I have found out there is a type called Single Bulb Shallots, no info just a description of some seeds. Can someone explain this to me as I have grown them from bulbs for years and never heard of a single bulb one. I supect of course that the one I planted will turn out to be that so am expecting it to put up a seed stalk instead of multiplying, and  of course I can be sure they were grown from hybrids. The other thing is they may have an inhibitor to prevent sprouting.  Heck, why do they complicate things so much over here.

Any info, even speculation would be good at this point. Maybe as they were expensive, I should just pull them out and give up on the idea.

Xx Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[Tee Gee]

Only guessing from something I did once!

I sowed shallot seeds and they all came up as a ' single bulbs'  and from what information I gleaned at the time if I had saved these they would have performed in their second year  as traditional multiplying shallots.

Sadly I never found out if this was the case as I didn't save any to try.

Sorry but that's the best info I can give....Tg

[Jeannine]

Thanks Tee gee. have found a bit of info. eg the ones grown from seed..in order to be called shallots have to have " a strong ability to division".. that is something to do with the EU rules apparently. However in an article about French shallots it says that Traditional shallots propogate fro bulbs but there Seed grown ones that don't. Apparently the flavor is way off too. Anyway I will leave them and see what happens , but if the flavor is poor they is little point to growing them again. I shall just have to find some of the gray ones that I like for next year I guess.

[ed dibbles]

Have you bought and planted what we here know as "banana shallots"? If so they won't multiply as they are really a type of onion. The shallots you grow from seed do multiply the second year as TeeGee has said.

I got a couple of packs of cooking shallots from the supermarket about six years ago reduced to 10p per pack. I have been planting them since then and they are always healthy, vigorous and produce a good number of really large shallots, almost like small onions.

Of course I don't know the variety, they must be a F1 hybrid I would have thought, but as long as they carry on cropping well who cares.

[Jeannine]

No, they are not bananas, I think they are Ambition from seed but am not certain.If they are they don't have the flavor of the ones O prefer which are the greys but I will see what happens.

[ancellsfarmer]

You should get your supermarket sets to grow. Yes they may have been treated as antisprout but give them a good wash and they should be fine. If they will multiply, you should be able to peel one at an early stage and discern the seperate cells, and then take a view on their future. Does  the labelling not give a name of the producer, possibly with variety details?

[Jeannine]

No info with them at all. just shallots.  Anyway I have planted them so we will see. At the least if they sprout I will get something but after all the reading I have done, I am not going to get the flavor I was after as it simply is not there. I have found a supplier of the  True French ones  ..Gray shallots  I was looking for  and also the French long. now but not until September. Apparently they sell out early so I will order very shortly.

Interesting fun experiment. I will post results.

XX Jeannin

[Plot22]

For the last 4 years I have grown Longor Shallots from single bulbs. They keep extremely well and like my garlic I put enough of the larger ones to one side in order that I can reset them the following year. Every couple of years I replace the whole lot.
This year I have set 46 Longor in a row from last years crop but I have several trays in the greenhouse of Shallot Figaro which I am growing from seed. They have nearly all germinated and my plan is to reset them in the allotment next door to the Longor when they are big enough and the soil is warmer than it presently is.

My wife will compare both varieties for taste and keeping quality. Although the Longor are productive they are £7 for 20 from T & M so you need to get a couple of seasons out of them before buying new stock.

[Jeannine]

Longor is one of the ones I would have bought to plant if I could but could find none this year. I kept them going myself for a long time but a break from gardening lost them for me.

[Vinlander]

Unfortunately no farmer in contact with the real world would ever grow shallots from costly offsets when they can grow them from cheap seed.

They do taste enough like shallots to satisfy their customers - I suspect Longor sets may taste better but they are soooo expensive.

The EU rule is interesting, but my experience with shop shallots is that some of them will split, but quite a lot just flower - though the bulb is just as good as the one you bought - so eat it as they may just die next year. The ones that do split are very likely to flower in the same year and next year a lot will just die. Useless...except you get good cheap seeds to sow on. I'd say buy the shallots, eat them all in the autumn and keep the seed for next year.

Cheers.