Medwyn Williams has problems with his shallots
It’s been a difficult year for growing and storing
We planted a large number of shallots in steel troughs this year but, unlike last year, they turned out to be a disaster. I lost more than half of the crop and those we managed to save weren’t as good as they should have been. We just couldn’t make out why they were dying back so much, with the shallots in one container dying off completely. In the end we decided it must have been a systemic weedkiller contaminating the horse manure we used.
After removing the shallots, I decided to sow some beetroot in troughs just to see how they performed. Worryingly, they were the same. They germinated and struggled to grow and struggled to crop. I was really worried as I had two big piles of this excellent horse manure and I certainly didn’t want to waste it. A couple of weeks ago we decided to empty the troughs out and as soon as we had gone half a spit deep it immediately became clear what the problem was – waterlogging.
When I got the containers last year we made slits along the bottom of each, as well as drilling some holes for drainage. But the soil had turned to mud as the drainage slits and drill holes were totally inadequate and blocked up. I’ll have to make sure there’s better drainage before next year. I intend to hire a powerful drill and a large drill bit to that end. I’ll also cover the holes over with pieces of slate to make sure that it won’t block again next season. It doesn’t matter how old you are, there’s a lesson to be learned every day!
Anyway, my shallot problems didn’t end there. There can’t be many things more difficult to keep in store than exhibition shallots. Mine either throw out premature shoots or succumb to rot or botrytis. I thoroughly dry them and clean before storing in boxes. Every fortnight or so I go through them and inevitably, and frustratingly, there are always some that can’t be used.