Shallot 'Matador' (Allium cepa) – Grow Your Own Onion Plants (12 Plants in 2 x 6-Cell Trays)

Shallot 'Matador' is a reliable, high yielding shallot that gives you mild, sweet bulbs for cooking, pickling and salads. It is a popular choice for home growers and kitchen gardeners, and these young plants give you a head start on the season with very little effort.

Matador makes firm, round bulbs with red brown skin and crisp white flesh, and it stores well once dried. Unlike shallots grown from sets, a Matador plant forms a single bulb, so you get a neat, even crop. It is ready later than many shallots, in early to mid autumn.

You receive 12 plants growing in 2 plastic 6-cell trays, one plant to a cell, ready to plant out once the worst frosts are over. Give them a sunny spot in fertile, free draining soil, in a raised bed, vegetable border or container. Water during dry spells while they establish, then ease off as the bulbs mature so the skins dry and firm up.

Space plants about 15 to 20cm apart in rows 30cm apart. Lift the bulbs when the foliage yellows and dies back, then dry them in a warm, airy place before storing. Like all alliums, shallots are harmful to dogs and cats if eaten.

Cultural Information

• Common Name: Shallot 'Matador'
• Botanical Name: Allium cepa Aggregatum Group
• Growth Habit: Upright, bulbous vegetable
• Perfect For: Raised beds, vegetable borders, allotments and containers
• Planting Position: Full sun
• Soil Type: Fertile, free draining soil; avoid damp or waterlogged ground
• Hardiness: Plant out once the worst frosts are over
• Harvest: Early to mid autumn
• Type: Bulb vegetable (Grow Your Own)