Banana Shallots

[Shallot Man]

I have a feeling in my water that the Banana Shallots I grew this season are not going to store for long, the centre of some of them already seem to be trying to shoot. On another note, have you noticed that the onions this year seem very strong, mine are strong enough to blow the top of your head off. Shallotman

[strawberry tart]

Mine too. In fact I was thinking the other day why did i bother with them in the first place? I think i just got caught up with everyone (not here exclusively) banging on about them, then I saw some seed when I was at Kew and tried some, not really impressed.
More impressed with my own Roscoff onions which are the prettiest onion Ive ever grown and also won in their class(under 250g) at quite a large show August bank holiday.They have a lovely copper pink hue and the taste is tops, sweet and not too strong. A few people had some seed including Steve Partridge I think his did ok but the pic on his web page shows one that isnt ripe When the skins ripen they are a picture....Strawberry Tart.

[Johnboy]

Hi Shallotman,
I feel that you have been storing them in a too warm a place. I eventually got quite a decent crop of Banana Shallots having cocked-up the first sowing.
I suspect that you are correct that onions in general are quite strong this year. Making a stew the other evening I was crying my eyes out and that really doesn't normally happen. Taste wise they are very good and the Banana Shallots will be finished up far sooner than I expected which means I could have done with the ones I lost!
JB.

[Chantal]

What a relief! I was wearing my strimming goggles the other day to cut up a load of onions. I thought I'd gone soft

[strawberry tart]

tks for the pm Shallotman, heres a pic of one of my Roscoff onions.

[mandylew]

does anyone know where to get seed for the roscoff onion?, I was really pleased with my banana shallots this year and would like to try these as well next year.

[strawberry tart]

Hi Mandylew, I sent some info yesterday. Strawberry Tart.

[Johnboy]

Hi Strawberry Tart,
As the old gardening tale goes;
'Oh the apples in the background are very large Bramley's'

A very nice Onion very well presented but actually what is the weight?
JB.

[strawberry tart]

Hello Johnboy, its a shame theyre only hazlenuts in the background it puts the onion in a different perspective., tks for the compliment, the onion is one out of my prize winning set of 5 they were all around 200grams each or a fraction over 7 ounces in old money.I am pleased with them as they are from my own saved seed. After searching high and low I concluded that nobody was selling the seed so several years ago I managed to get hold of a genuine string of roscoff onions from a London importer,(at great expense!) potted them up and grew them on in seclusion in one of my greenhouses and so now i have my own strain of Roscoff onions. This year will be my 3rd year I'm just harvesting the seed from last years bulbs now....Strawberry Tart.

[Colin_M]

I have a feeling in my water that the Banana Shallots I grew this season are not going to store for long

Out of interest, have any of you been trying to collect seeds from your Banana shallots?

Mine formed seed heads, but they seemed to take an age to do anything (something like 2 months before actual seeds formed). A recent check showed they were still wet & white inside the pods, despite me having removed the flowerheads from the plants weeks ago & hung them up in the greenhouse.

Colin

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
When taking seed you should let the seed ripen on the plant. I fear that the seed may not have been far enough advanced in the ripening process when you removed them from the plant.
I always tie a muslin bag over the flower head to prevent it being fertilized by another pollen and thus producing a hybrid. When the seed has turned black I then take the whole head, plus as much stalk as possible, from the plant and hang up to thoroughly dry out before threshing. The seed goes into the muslin bag and then emptied out and rubbed and winnowed to give good clean seed.
Concernedly,
JB.

[Colin_M]

Hi Colin,
When taking seed you should let the seed ripen on the plant. I fear that the seed may not have been far enough advanced in the ripening process

Thanks JB, I guess I now know that for next year

The main reason I did this was, like many other people's Alliums this summer, the main shallot plants were starting to die or go manky. Since I've not let flowers develop on these before and could see the stems rotting, I thought I'd hang onto what I'd got so far.

Maybe we can organise another seed share again this year, like we did with David last year....?

Colin

[Chantal]

If anyone wants any, I have a some seeds left over from last year as Piglet gave me a big bag of seed heads. They're all nice and dry in a tub.

Send me a PM with your address if you'd like some posting.

[Piglet]

Hi Strawberrytart, i had the same problem with roscoff seeds so when in Brittany last year bought some onions and did the same as you. I have just harvested my first crop of seed.

I also did very well with my banana shallots from home produced seed and have plenty in store, although a handful will be kept back for seed production next year.

[strawberry tart]

Hi Piglet, well as I said in my reply to Shallotman I wasn't all that impressed with my banana shallots they were just like large elongated onions that have continued to sprout after they were harvested. I'm going back to Jermor which I liked and which are a true shallot in every sense,I'm also on the lookout for some top quality virus free hative d'nort.best of luck with the Roscoff onions (great minds think alike you know!)...S.t.