Kitchen Garden Forum

How is everyone growing bananas shallots this year doing with them?

I started one batch off in early January, they are now in 4" pots in my cold greenhouse. Batch 2 sown a couple of weeks ago are pricked out into modules, and I'm going to try an early April sowing too, as there were divided opinions as to when the best time to sow was!

Germination was better in the second sowing; overall probably 50 percent sowing 1, 75 percent sowing 2. Anyone else having a go?

My Boxing Day sowing was poor - only 26 germinated. Second sowing at the end of Jan was really good. Third sowing just emerging now and looks as good as the second one.

Hi Tigger,
I got damn near 100% sowing on Boxing Day then that very heavy frost we had the other week killed all but 6 out of 126x2. I have resown and they are beginning to do well. The reason that they got affected was because it was a very warm day and I was out for the day so I opened the tunnel doors and return at nearly midnight and I was too knackered to go down to the tunnels then. So it could be said they died through my sheer neglect. They also probably needed a drink and if they had wilted and then hit by the frost its a good bye situation.
I am absolutely livid with myself.
JB.

Proof JB that you're just human! We've all done it.

Mine have been mixed.

I was too scared to sow them in my unheated greenhouse, fearing frosts. As a result the ones sown in my conservatory in January produced seedlings quickly, which reached about 4-6" high in no time. Of course it was really mild and these seedlings then had great trouble "standing up".

They're all out in the greenhouse now and seem to have survived.

Germination rates varied quite a lot. I think I probably have around 25 from the early batch, plus a further 10 or so from an early March sowing.


Any advice on when they can go into the ground? I have fleece tunnels I can cover them with if that helps?

Colin

Mostly very good germination but a few people have reported that they were not as good.

Only four of around 100 germinated and they were so pathetic I chucked them out after a few weeks.

Well hopefully between the lot of us, we should get SOME top bananas eh?

....When should we plant our seedlings out?

Any specific treatment they need?


Colin