Shallot · Queens, New York, United States
When to plant shallots in Queens
Main outdoor window
15 Feb - 8 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
29 March
In Queens, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
16 May - 15 Jun
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Queens
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Sow for overwintering
30 Jun - 21 Jul
Counting back 134 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
15 Feb - 8 Mar
Six weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
16 May - 15 Jun
Shallots through the year
Against the frost risk in Queens
Why these dates
Plant sets six weeks before the last frost, or in autumn in mild-winter regions for an earlier and larger crop. Push them in rather than burying them - the tip should be just visible.
Sets and young growth take -12C easily. Autumn-planted shallots overwinter through most temperate climates without protection.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Shallots are timed for direct sowing 6 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Queens.
The median frost-free season here is 249 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Queens
Other vegetables to time
Growing shallots in Queens
When should I plant shallots in Queens?
Aim for 15 Feb - 8 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 25 Feb - 18 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shallots be ready to harvest in Queens?
Expect to start picking around 16 May - 15 Jun, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will shallots tolerate?
Sets and young growth take -12C easily. Autumn-planted shallots overwinter through most temperate climates without protection.