time to harvest shallots?

[penny]

hello everyone,
my shallots look ready to harvest we had one set's worth last night. Could they be ready?
What's best way to store - plait or onion bag?
Thanks in advance
Penny

[PAULW]

PENNY
In vinegar!
or once the have dried out I keep mine in the trusty blue allotment trays this lets the air circulate.

[Chantal]

Hi Penny

I've always understood that you should plant on the shortest day (21 Dec) and lift on the shortest day (21 June) which means yes, they should be ready.

However, mine are still totally in the green, not bolting and still swelling nicely, so I'm leaving mine just a little bit longer. They've been so cold this year that the current warmth must do them some good.

When you do decide to harvest, you should gently fork under the shallots and loosen the roots from the soil, then leave them on the surface to dry. This is in an ideal world. If there is any chance of theft, dry them at home.

[Colin_M]

Chantal makes a good point.

One further point may be worth considering for you. Many people with onions & shallots on our plot are suffering from mildew or other problems. I don't know what's led to this, but if yours show any signs, I'd get them harvested & any affected material removed before you leave them to dry.

Sadly though my shallots aren't mildew'd, they've keeled over in the normal way when they're almost ready, but the bulbs aren't as big as I'd hoped. I think I missed out on watering & feeding them earlier when things were drier than they'd have liked.

Things are a little different for my Banana shallots (still youthful & growing) and it may be these that Chantal is referring to.

[marianne34]

I heard that shallots are ready a bit earlier than usual this year so I guess yours might be ready to harvest!

[kwa50]

Some of my shallots seem extra small this year, and only 4 to one shallot planted - read elsewhere someone had 17!!!!

kwa50
www.craftchallenge.co.uk

[Tigger]

My shallots are smaller than hoped for too, but at least I've got some this year - better than usual. Maybe I'll lift a few at the weekend and see.

[penny]

but now i am worried about the rain... Penny

[Chantal]

I'm not growing banana shallots but my regular shallots have suddenly bulked up and doubled in size in the past week.
There seems to be a lot of them too but this rain could rot them so I'm lifting them tomorrow to dry in the greenhouse.

[old codger]

I lifted my shallots whith a fork two days ago and it has rained ever since,is it too hot to put them in the greenhouse.

[kwa50]

just had to share this with you, I harvested some of my shallots at the weekend and although small they are so tasty.

kwa50
www.craftchallenge.co.uk

[nemo]

i will be lifting my shallots next week i will dry them well before i store them . the first year i grew them i didn't dry them properly and stored them in onion bags i lost a lot of them as they rotted be sure to dry your properly first

[mandylew]

I grew banana shallots from seed and they dont really look ready for lifting but I forked under them today because it has been really wet and dont want them to rot. I'm really pleased i grew them in modules about 5 seeds and planted out as they were. They just look like as if i had planted one and it divided.

[Colin_M]

They just look like as if i had planted one and it divided.

So did they divide like sets would, or produce an individual shallot?

For the last 2 years, the seed banana shallots I've planted have done the latter.

[mandylew]

yes one per seed, but because i planted them out in modules of 4 or 5 they all bunched up together like one that had divided, last year i planted a big one from the supermarket out and it split into 3 this year, but i will probably go for the seed method again bacause they are mostly quite big.