Last edited on October 27, 2026. View history
Shallot
A variety of onion
How to sow shallot: Direct seed, thin to 5cm when seedlings are 3cm tall
Sun requirement for shallot: Plant in Full Sun
Shallots are a type of small onion with a subtle, distinguished flavor. The bulb is covered in papery red skin tinted rust, gold, or purple and has a tapered oblong shape with multiple cloves. They can be used fresh or dried in a variety of dishes.
- 14
- plantings
- 5
- harvests
- 3
- seed packets
Shallot facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
30cm × 15cmRow Spacing
5cmDays until maturity
50–70 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
bulb harvested 4 timesCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For shallot, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 750 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your shallot will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing shallots
Growing onions
- Sow seeds in trays 8 weeks before planting out
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before planting out
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Weed around the plants 2 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with a nitrogen fertiliser 4 weeks after planting out every month
- Stop watering as the tops fall over 1 week before first harvest
- Lift the bulbs at first harvest
- Dry the bulbs in an airy place 1 week after first harvest
Growing shallots
- Dig compost into the bed 2 weeks before planting out
- Net against birds pulling up the sets at planting out
- Weed around the plants 3 weeks after planting out every month
- Water in dry weather 4 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Snip off any flower stems 4 weeks before first harvest
- Stop watering 2 weeks before first harvest
- Lift the bulbs at first harvest
- Dry the bulbs in a shaded, airy place 1 week after first harvest
- Keep the best bulbs for replanting 3 weeks after first harvest
How members grow shallots
Sunniness
Planted from
Harvested for
Photos
Photos
Shallot crops
Shallot plantings
Shallot harvests
Shallot seeds
Video
Where shallots grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about shallots
Nobody has posted about shallots yet.
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Who's planted shallots
- pazinjanka Rented garden · Almere, Netherlands
- shiny back yard shaded garden · Wellington, NZ
- tegan garden - front yard
- Syzygium container · Montreal
- julegan Vegetable Garden · 3733 SE 28th Ave...
pazinjanka
Shallot harvests
-
Groubes harvested not specified.
unknown locationabout 6 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
almost 8 years ago
-
shiny harvested 1.
almost 8 years ago
Groubes harvested not specified.
Find shallot seeds
View all shallot seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 60 to 100 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Allium cepa var. aggregatum G. Don f.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Liliidae Asparagales Alliaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -5 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | light, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about shallots
Resources outside Growstuff.
