Not familiar with UK climate for allium crops, but I've been growing
shallots (in New England) for about 2 years now. I treat them like
storage onions: i.e. I let them grow until late summer when the tops
start to die down (not just a few brown tips, which may indicate they
need water). You can use a few during the summer, but I generally wait
until they get a good size, which is generally late August or later.

I never tried pulling the soil back to expose the top of the bulb and
they did just fine. They generally push themselves out of the ground a
bit as they grow.

Mine never set flowers. I assume that they're biennial like other
alliums and would set flowers in the second year. Since I start mine
from seed they're all first year plants. Never tried sets.


runnerducks3 wrote:
I have planted garlic for years, but this is the first time for
shallots. They were planted from sets. They are well grown. I have
been breaking off the flower stocks as they come out. The tips of the
green tops are starting to brown. I read somewhere that you
need to pull the soil back to expose their tops?? I don't know if that
is correct. Any advice or thoughts would be appriciated. Thanks