Ambition (F1) Shallot Seed

Scientific name

Allium cepa var. aggregatum

Soil

Shallots want full sun and fertile, free-draining soil at pH 6.0–7.0. Sandy loam is ideal; on heavier ground, raised beds or rows help drainage. Seed-grown plants set close together, about 2" apart, usually form one bulb each.

Day length

Like onions, shallots bulb in response to day length. Grow them as you would long-day onions.

Days to maturity

Counted from direct sowing; transplants are ready 10–15 days sooner.

Transplanting

Where the season is short, sow indoors from late February to mid-March. Scatter seed about 1/2" apart in flats, cover 1/4" and trim the tops back to about 5" if they get long; plant out 4" apart. Or sow 5 seeds in each 1–1½" plug cell, thin to 3 and plant the clumps 6" apart.

Direct sowing

As early in spring as the soil can be worked (April or early May), sow a band 2" wide with about 2 seeds per inch, 1/4–1/2" deep, in rows 12–18" apart. Thin to 2" for the biggest total yield in rich soil, or 3–4" for larger bulbs.

Seeding rate

At 20 seeds per foot in rows 18" apart: about 1 oz. per 25 ft., 1,000 seeds per 50 ft., 5,000 per 250 ft., 25,000 per 1,250 ft. and 580,000 per acre.

Care

Shallots are shallow-rooted, so weed often but shallowly, and give them at least 1" of water a week, especially while bulbs are swelling.

Disease

Good airflow and rotation away from onion-family crops lower the risk of leaf diseases.

Harvest

When the necks soften and the tops fall over, pull the plants and let them cure in the sun for 2–7 days depending on the weather, then finish drying under cover.

Storage

Once dry, trim tops and roots and store in mesh bags or shallow crates just above freezing at 60–70% relative humidity.

Transplants

About 4,900 plants per oz., or 78,750 per lb.

Packet

250 seeds.

Seeds per lb.

About 119,900 on average.