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(Best months for planting Shallots in Australia - cool/mountain regions)

• Easy to grow.
• Harvest in 85-105 days
• Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 2-3cm

Shallots are grown from small bulbs kept from the main plant. Once they are established, you can keep your supply going indefinitely by saving a few bulblets each year.

A type of small mild multiplying onion, popular in French cooking.

Tree onions or 'walking onions' produce bulbs at the top of the stem.

Shallots are not spring onions.

They are more like garlic in their growth as they form a clump of bulbs at the base of the stem.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Shallots

Use in any recipe instead of onions
Can be cooked whole, braised gently with other vegetables.
Sometimes pickled.

Your comments and tips

27 Jul 09 Ian C. Purdie (Australia - temperate climate)

Around Anzac Day I planted a heap of shallot bulbs [Dutch] which I purchased at Coles. If you're lucky they'll process them price wise as cheap brown onions. Also I purchased "Australian Purple Garlic". Chinese didn't grow very well. Probably irradiated on entry. Both are going gang busters but showing some signs of the lower leaves yellowing [which may or may not be a problem]. A few of the shallots however, while coming out as many as nine to a plant are throwing out seed heads. That's a worry. Any hints, tips? My Italian neighbour gave me some bunching shallots, told me how to plant them and also quite doing well. TIA

01 Aug 09 MuddyKnees (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

While not directly related to this thread I'm asking here as there seems some knowledgable folk .. Anyone know where I can source tree potatoes? I'm not sure if that is the correct name but apparantly they grow on a bushlike plant, i.e. above ground.

07 Aug 09 GB (Australia - temperate climate)

I purchased French shallots from the local Woolies here in WA (every time I buy them the girls do not know what they are and process them as pickling onions) and planted them in a 30cm diam/deep plastic pot with well rotted plant matter and horse manure. I had also heard that you cannot replant supermarket seeds or bulbs due to some kind of treatment, but for the shallots this certainly was not the case. The shallots grew to about 100mm within 3 weeks and after that the growth was fairly rapid. Of interest was the fact that I companion planted with a rosemary in one of the pots and the foliage and bulb development far exceeded that of shallots that I planted by themselves. This may be due to the original bulb quality but food for thought anyhow. I planted the bulbs early spring.

16 Sep 09 Graeme Collett (Australia - temperate climate)

I now belong to the supermarket treatment school. Have had ZERO result with these. They just sit there and rot. Maybe some supplies treat and some don't. Mine came from Coles but will try Woolies. I try and avoid the "big boys" but will keep eye out at local bloke. Fingers crossed.

19 Oct 09 jenny V. (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Have flourishing shallots I bought at a supermarket. Do I wait until their foliage dies before I pull them out or can I use them now, as I want to do? Love shallots.

23 Oct 09 (Australia - temperate climate)

how long does it take before you can pick them

09 Dec 09 STUART (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Has anyone any ideas of where i can purchase some seed for these french shallots, I have hunted everywhere locally to no avail any help will be most appreciated

11 Dec 09 GB (Australia - temperate climate)

To Stuart: Depends where you live. In WA they are for whatever reason considered a pest and as such the seeds cannot be imported into the state (but you can grow from bulb???). Maybe try the diggers club (google it).

17 Jan 10 Wendy (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Mine grew like the clappers (planted autumn, in Tasmania, treated exactly like garlic which thrives here) but each one threw up a tough flower stalk and didn't form bulbs - now I know why - apparently they only form bulbs above 21 degrees C. May try spring planting next time so they will grow through the warmer weather.

01 Mar 10 Christine (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Grew shallots for the first time this year. Magnificent. I bought a bag cheap from the supermarket because they were sprouting, didn't really know what I was doing but treated as garlic and had 4-6 large bulbs per plant. They were pretty small bulbs originally so will be saving the large bulbs from this years crop and should have up to 12. Give each bulb plenty of room to spread and lots of feed.