Planting guide

When to plant shallot

Mild, sweet small onions that multiply from one bulb; easy to store. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Jun.

Start as: Bare-root plant
Ready in: 13–21 wks
Spacing: 15 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means shallot can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○
London	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Manchester	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Dublin	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
New York City	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Seattle	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Berlin	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○

How to plant shallot

Push bulbs in with the tip just showing.
Space 15 cm apart in loose soil.
Weed gently and water sparingly.
Lift when tops yellow; dry in the shade.

Shallot varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Golden Shallot Classicstorage · 13–19 wksMild, sweet brown shallots; multiplying bulbs
Red Shallot Classicstorage · 13–19 wksMild red shallots with a nice bite
Roderique Adventuroushybrid · storage · 14–20 wksHybrid banana shallot with big uniform bulbs
Banana Shallot Adventurousstorage · sweet · 16–21 wksLong French shallot; easy to slice

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Carrot, Beetroot, Lettuce

Shallot by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Onion · Spring Onion · Garlic · Leek

Not sure shallot is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now