The store room sounds like the best choice, even if it may be warm there now. My pantry is either hotter than the Sahara or colder than the Arctic but it only causes shallots to last that much longer!

If you have enough leaves on each one, you can tie a bunch together or braid them like garlic. Then hang them in your kitchen, pantry, spare room, etc. When I used to grow just a few dozen plants, I'd use a rubber band to bundle about a dozen bulbs and hang them in the garden shed. Often, I'd even leave them there well into the winter with no problem. Now, they stay in the shed until cold weather and then into an un-heated entryway. Between proper curing and those places, they'll still last a full year.

Martin

Thank you Martin. I really appreciate your speedy as well as complete answer. I have a lot of small ones and I now know that they need richer soil. I will use them for planting in October. I will make sure to amend the ground next year. The garlic harvest was very good in the same soil however it will get the same treatment and probably be better for it.

Thanks again, Bonnie.

The smaller the better for planting with the shallots. I dont think in your zone you will have any problems with overwintering either.Here I have to put a few aside just incase some don't make the winter,most usually do.I do know any early spring planted bulbs will fare just as well as fall planted for me.You may need to find out when the best time for planting the shallots are in your area.It may be later than the lower zones by a few months.
Bill

Ours overwintered just fine last year, however, we had a very mild winter and a shortage of rain. Even in a hard winter it rarely gets below 20 degrees. As I said before I have so many small ones because I need to amend my soil which I will do this fall. It is a good idea to put some aside and thanks for the suggestion. Good luck with yours as it must get mighty cold there...brrr!

Thanks for your imput... Bonnie

Bonnie, you may be kicking yourself for something that's not your fault. Shallots have long been known as the least demanding of our garden alliums when it comes to soil. Their response to poor soils is usually just smaller numbers rather than size. Rich soil is a plus but there are other more important factors. One is size of the bulb to be planted. If it's a large bulb, there will be a greater number of immediate divisions. The result then are a lot of smaller bulbs since it's only a single root system supporting the lot. There may be as many as 15 or more bulbs but most too small for easy use in the kitchen. Small bulbs will only produce perhaps a half dozen divisions but most resulting bulbs will be extra large and welcomed by the chef. So, use your largest ones for eating and plant only the small ones back.

Spacing is another important factor. Minimum 8" while a foot is better if you have the available ground. Their leaf growth is usually off at a 45 degree angle so they need a lot of shoulder room. The root system is also more spread out than a regular onion since it must support a multiple plant complex.

If you insist that you need more soil amendments, start with bone meal if you think that your phosphorus is low. Then add any 1-1-1 NPK ratio fertilizer according to package instructions. Ideal fertilizer would be a 1-2-1 ratio but that's not always readily available. I've found an 8-10-8 which is close but still added bone meal when I planted 65 shallots a week ago.

Martin

Planted 65 shallots a week ago??
#1 Why so early Martin??

#2 I just dug up my Golden shallots and have 14 bulbs.I plan on planting 10 back.
Should I cure them awhile before planting?

#3 Should I keep back half for spring planting?I remember you mentioning the Goldens may not all overwinter.

thanks Bill

Bill, for #1, you can flip a coin as to if I'm planting too early or too late. Those shallots, 42 Pikants and 23 Goldens, cost zero. They were leftovers at Jung's and should have ended up in their compost bin by now. They were in packages of 10 and perhaps only 3 or 4 were still alive in each. Sorted through about 25 bags to pick out the good ones. Did the same last year but on a smaller scale just to see what happens. Most were shaded out by tomatoes but the ones that survived went into dormancy last fall and resumed growth this spring. Resulted in the biggest shallots that I've ever seen! Those were already dead and done a week ago. Therefore, when given the same opportunity, I decided to give them a proper area to grow. Several good rains since and I've got about 15-20 up in 8 days.

For #2, I indeed would normally cure and hold the Goldens until garlic planting time. I haven't taken up the 2004 fall-planted Goldens yet. Despite the hotter season, they are still green as I've given them their share of water through the drought. Perhaps not going to get much larger but no need to lift them yet. None are going to be overly huge but I only had large bulbs to plant back after too much sharing!

And #3. If I had my druthers, I'd wait until spring to plant any Golden shallots here. More than once I've lost half of them for no particular reason in an ordinary winter. Nothing as disastrous as the potato onion loses but annoying anyway. Due to possible changing plans for 2006, the Goldens which were planted a week ago may be it for that variety. I'll mulch thick but loose using whole maple and oak leaves rather than shredded. That way, they won't be so apt to form a solid frozen mat. That effort will be to hopefully save most of the Pikants rather than the more common Goldens.

Martin

Thanks Martin
Sounds like from the 2004 planting some Goldens did survive(maybe due to good depth and size of root growth).I think I'll stick in 4-5 and give it a try.A few large sized 1s for eating sounds good. I'll let the 1s I have now dry down for another week or so and replant a few.I'll stick them in the southernmost new row and mulch well.

Bill

i store mine in a open shed with plenty of ventilation.. it's mostly dry with high humdity in the winter..

Cowboyir, that sounds perfect. If it has worked for you for 30 years I will give it a try. I also have an open shed and should be able to keep them dry but as we both know there is plenty of humidity in the winter. Thanks for the idea.

By the way we share a birthday.

Bonnie

Oh my...I was just reading up on growing shallots and came across this post. Cowboyir and bbpick, we all share a birthday.
:)