This week's gardening community provided an interesting prompt. It was about planting in containers. Well, I was interested in writing about it. Even without the prompt, I would have posted something related to it. Because I'll share my journey growing shallots from start to harvest.
FIRST, why shallots? Shallots are a key spice, along with garlic and chilies, that most Indonesians use in cooking. This is especially true during certain important holidays, like now, with the fasting month approaching and the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday for Muslims. The price of shallots will increase significantly. So, there's no harm in growing your own shallots at home.
Unlike garlic, which must be planted in highlands to produce good bulbs, shallots can be grown in lowlands, like my yard, which is generally lowland, only about 90 meters above sea level.
Shallots are also easy to grow and harvest, even for those without specialized farming skills. We just need to be patient, because shallots don't like water, so it can save us time watering.
I've planted shallots many times in the mini garden in front of my house. So it's like I'm addicted to planting them again. Of course, in previous posts, I've shared how to grow shallots. But this time, because I just harvested shallots, it's a new season, so I'll share it with you again.
SECOND: Why used gallon jugs? The used gallon jugs I use here are mineral water gallons because drinking water in this area has to be bought by the gallon. We can't drink straight from the tap, even from wells.
Even my neighbors have lots of used gallon jugs. So they usually give them to me because they know I'll use them for planting.
Well, there are two ways to grow shallots at home. First, you can plant from seeds, but the harvesting process will take more than 3 months, in addition to the seedling period. The second method is to use the shallot bulbs themselves, which we typically use for cooking.
In this session, I planted shallots from bulbs I bought directly from the market. So, I used the half of the shallot bulbs that weren't used for planting to cook, so no shallots were wasted.
I started planting shallots from bulbs in used gallon jugs around December 25, 2025. Initially, everything seemed fine because there hadn't been much rainfall.
A week after planting the shallot bulbs directly in the used gallon jugs, they sprouted, so I added more growing medium to cover the bulbs so they could focus on growing new shoots, which would eventually produce shallot bulbs.
In the second week, I added organic fertilizer, namely goat manure. Of course, it was in powder form, like soil, and had no odor at all. It was safe for plants because it didn't contain any bacteria or viruses because it had gone through a proper fermentation process.
One month after planting, I noticed the shallot plants I planted in used gallon jugs were all growing well, from small shallot bulbs to numerous shoots.
But because January started with heavy rainfall, I had my own concerns, and those worries eventually came true. Gardening is never easy, and we know that. So, my challenge this season was the heavy rainfall. At first, the shallot leaves looked strong, but then they started to suffer damage. Some of the leaves began to break due to the heavy rainfall.
But I didn't give up. I tried my best. At one month old, I added fine eggshell powder and organic goat manure fertilizer. I also added dry growing media to reduce the humidity in the constantly damp growing media from the rain.
At one month after planting, the shallot bulbs were starting to appear. We can see that the undersides of the leaves are already showing a purplish color, indicating that the shallot bulbs are starting to emerge.
At 1.5 months old, rainfall has actually increased compared to January. So, in February, rainfall was indeed very high, reaching its peak. Meanwhile, next month will usher in the start of the dry season, with reduced rainfall intensity.
Look, most of the shallot leaves are broken and rotting. I can no longer handle the shallot plants. This one survived. So I decided to harvest early. If I waited, all the shallot plants would rot, and the bulbs would rot, and it would all be for nothing. So, before it's too late, I'm going to harvest.
The shallots should have been harvested in about half a month to a month, so the bulbs would be mature and the outer skin would be completely dry. But I couldn't wait any longer, so the shallots I harvested this time will be younger.
The shallot bulbs didn't appear on the surface of the growing medium because the continuous heavy rainfall had caused them to hide beneath the growing medium.
Although they weren't yet at the ideal harvest age, these shallots turned out to be quite good, with around 8 to 10 bulbs or more per used gallon container. It was quite impressive.
There's always something to be thankful for when things don't go according to plan. I'm grateful that these shallots produced good bulbs, even though they weren't fully mature.
Since I won't be selling them, they'll be for personal consumption only, so it's not a big deal at all. I got about 2 kg of shallots from 20 used gallon containers.
To prevent rot during storage, I cleaned off any remaining planting medium. I harvested them while they were wet, so I rinsed them with water. If you harvest shallots during the dry season, you don't need to wash them; you just need to wipe them with a cloth.
Even though I planted them in used gallon containers, the results were optimal due to regular maintenance and fertilization. You can also try this at home. But make sure your area has sufficient sunlight. Shallots need good sunlight. See you in my next garden journal!
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Who is Anggrek Lestari?
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