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Yesterday I harvested my first two batches of shallots that I grew from seed.
I have been trialling Matador, Ambition and Prisma. They were all sown and grown as identically as possible and all have behaved similarly.
They were sown at the beginning of February - a month earlier than the packets suggested - in small plugs. Once they were growing well I planted them about two inches apart in pots. I kept them in the greenhouse until they settled in and then put them outside. They grew steadily until a few weeks ago when they stopped expanding (fortunately - they're not small!).
They are quite perfect bulbs - symmetrical and bigger than most I have grown before. There are no "runts" or giants, they are all identical in size.
The reason I chose to try them from seed was because of limited space. By planting individual plantlets I could get a lot more in a pot. No waste of space because of unpredictable splitting of the bulbs. I have had shallots split into anywhere between 2 and 12 bulbs in the past, with no idea of why the difference occurred.
They are drying off now, and I have still to taste them, but I'm impressed so far. I really hope they cook and store well.
I have been trialling Matador, Ambition and Prisma. They were all sown and grown as identically as possible and all have behaved similarly.
They were sown at the beginning of February - a month earlier than the packets suggested - in small plugs. Once they were growing well I planted them about two inches apart in pots. I kept them in the greenhouse until they settled in and then put them outside. They grew steadily until a few weeks ago when they stopped expanding (fortunately - they're not small!).
They are quite perfect bulbs - symmetrical and bigger than most I have grown before. There are no "runts" or giants, they are all identical in size.
The reason I chose to try them from seed was because of limited space. By planting individual plantlets I could get a lot more in a pot. No waste of space because of unpredictable splitting of the bulbs. I have had shallots split into anywhere between 2 and 12 bulbs in the past, with no idea of why the difference occurred.
They are drying off now, and I have still to taste them, but I'm impressed so far. I really hope they cook and store well.
I wonder if you kept some of the bulbs for next year, would they grow ok or run to seed? also did each seed make one bulb?
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