Shallot · Tacoma, Washington, United States
When to plant shallots in Tacoma
Main outdoor window
30 Jan - 20 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 March
In Tacoma, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
30 Apr - 30 May
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 Tacoma
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
18 Jun - 9 Jul
Counting back 134 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
30 Jan - 20 Feb
Six weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
30 Apr - 30 May
Shallots through the year
Against the frost risk in Tacoma
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 Tacoma.
The median frost-free season here is 252 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 Tacoma
Other vegetables to time
Growing shallots in Tacoma
When should I plant shallots in Tacoma?
Aim for 30 Jan - 20 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 28 Feb - 21 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shallots be ready to harvest in Tacoma?
Expect to start picking around 30 Apr - 30 May, 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.