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Potatoes are the main food product for Russian residents. There are more than a thousand varieties adapted for cultivation in both warm and cold climates. To ensure that potatoes do not go out of your diet all year round, it is important to store them correctly. If you create appropriate storage conditions for potatoes, they will not lose their taste for 8–10 months.
This article will talk about how properly organize potato storage and what rules should be followed.
When to harvest potatoes for winter storage
In the process of growing potato tubers, many gardeners use the young crop for daily cooking. However, you cannot collect young potatoes for winter storage, as they will simply spoil ahead of time. Only well-ripened potato tubers are suitable for winter storage. In order for the root crop to be preserved until the new harvest, some measures should be taken:
- A harvest suitable for storage begins to form when the lower leaves of the green mass of potatoes dry out. From the day the lower leaves wilt until the tubers fully ripen, 3–4 weeks pass.This period is enough for the tops to die off and the roots to be saturated with starch and other nutrients that give the potatoes their taste. The taste and aroma of tubers depend on the type of potato.
- To make it easier to dig up ripe root vegetables, collect and burn the tops 1-2 weeks before harvest. During this time, the tubers will finally ripen, the peel will harden and dry eyes will form.
- It is best to dig up potatoes in dry, sunny weather. So, the tubers will dry in the sun, it will be easier to sort them and dry them in the shade. In addition, in dry weather you will be able to harvest without clay adhering to the tubers, as a result of which the shelf life of the potatoes will increase.
- In warm and dry regions, complete ripening of tubers takes place in the ground. In colder parts of the country, potatoes are dug up depending on the weather and air temperature.
- As a rule, early varieties are dug up in mid-July - early August. Medium varieties - from August 10 until the end of the month. And late varieties are put into storage in the first half of September.
If this is not done, the tubers will gain moisture, which will reduce their shelf life. Conversely, during dry summers the potatoes may lose too much moisture, causing them to become too soft.
If you do not grow potatoes, but buy them and store them in winter, then it is better to purchase one root variety. It is worth noting that yellow Potato varieties store better. If you decide to purchase several varieties of potatoes, then each variety must be stored in a separate container.
Preparing potatoes and premises
Before placing potatoes in their storage location, you need to prepare the tubers.Properly prepared potatoes are stored longer and retain their taste until the next harvest.
So, root vegetables must go through several stages of processing:
- Sorting, during which damaged tubers are selected.
- Cleaning of soil and remaining vegetation.
- Drying.
- Disinfection. Disinfection can be done using freshly slaked lime. The proportion will be as follows: 2.5 kg of lime is added to 10 liters of water.
- Fumigation.
Before adding potatoes to the cellar, you need to prepare it. How effective potato storage will be depends on this. So, you need to carry out the following manipulations:
- Inspect the premises to detect damage to the floor and walls.
- Carrying out disinfection.
- If there is damage, it must be repaired.
- Repairing equipment to ensure proper ventilation and temperature.
Proper preparation of root crops and the room in which they will be stored will ensure ideal storage of potatoes until the next harvest. It is important to avoid situations that provoke rotting or sprouting of root crops in storage.
Temperature
To prevent potato storage from ending in fiasco, you need to determine what the temperature in the cellar/basement should be. So, different varieties require different temperature conditions:
- Early varieties are stored at a temperature of 1.4–2.5ºС.
- Mid-early varieties are best stored at a temperature of 3–4ºС.
- Late and mid-late varieties can be stored at higher temperatures – 5–6ºС.
The potatoes should stand in this room for 2 weeks. After this time, the taste of the root crop should be restored.
Where is the best place to store potatoes?
Where do people store potatoes? It all depends on where a person lives, so the methods of storing potatoes will be different. If you live in the private sector, then most likely your potatoes will be stored in the cellar. If you live in an apartment, you can store potatoes either in the basement or on the balcony. Let's consider each storage method separately.
First of all, it’s worth talking about stationary storage areas for potatoes. In such rooms it is possible to regulate climatic conditions to ensure optimal storage conditions. So, there are 3 types of potato storage:
- Ground.
- Semi-recessed.
- Fully recessed.
Fully recessed cellars are considered the most practical. They retain the necessary coolness in the spring, while in winter such storage facilities do not freeze. If it is possible to organize the storage of potatoes in an underground cellar, then this gives you an almost 100% guarantee of the safety of the root crop until the next harvest.
If you take into account the level of groundwater when building a cellar, then a cellar in the ground will be the most effective room for storing root crops. The bottom of the storage facility should be 2 m above groundwater.
Pit for storing root crops
If you do not have a cellar, then the technology for storing potatoes will naturally differ from that described above. One option is to store potatoes in a hole specially prepared for this. It can be dug in the garden or in an outbuilding.A hole under a shed or in a shed is a better option for storing potatoes than in the garden. This way, you can quickly create the conditions necessary for storing potatoes.
Before you start digging a hole, it would be good to determine what type of soil you will be working with, since this factor is important to take into account when digging. So, the pit preparation process consists of the following stages:
- Digging a hole 1.5 m deep and 2 m in diameter.
- Preparation of grooves for groundwater drainage.
- Covering the walls and bottom with straw.
In order for the potatoes to lie in the hole until the end of spring, you need to know how to properly store the root crop in this storage. You need to pour potatoes into the prepared hole, not reaching the top by 40–50 cm. The remaining space is filled with straw and then covered with earth. This storage method is called bulk.
However, not all varieties of potatoes can be stored this way. Therefore, before deciding whether to store potatoes in this way, make sure that you have grown or purchased the appropriate variety.
Cellar storage
Cellars can be underground, semi-buried or above ground. It all depends on the groundwater level. A cellar built of concrete or red brick is suitable for storing potatoes.
Ventilation should be done so that the temperature in the cellar is maintained in the range of 2–6ºС, and the relative humidity varies between 80–90%. To do this, two pipes are installed in the cellar - supply and exhaust.
Balcony storage
If you live in an apartment, then you probably don’t have a cellar.You may have a basement, but if there are no proper conditions for storing root vegetables, then the only storage may be a balcony or loggia. Since the temperature in this room is sub-zero in winter, it will not be possible to store potatoes in a simple bag or box.
Some home craftsmen resorted to a little trick and simply insulated ordinary boxes with polystyrene foam and lined them with clapboard inside. Some installed an exhaust pipe in the box and organized heating in the form of a blue light bulb with a power of 40 watts. This storage for potatoes has decent performance.
If you are unable to do storage boxes yourself, then you can purchase a household thermal container Balcony Cellar. It is a double bag, which is made of tent fabric, insulated with durable padding polyester and equipped with electric heating. Such a thermal container ensures the safety of vegetables on the balcony even at –40ºС, since it always maintains a temperature within +1+7ºС. Moreover, the container operates automatically.
Results
So, by storing potatoes in suitable conditions, you can provide your life with delicious dishes from this vegetable. This article described the main types of potato storage and also provided tips on processing the vegetable before storing it. Choose one of the options, and let there always be potatoes in your home!
Another way to store potatoes at home is covered in the video:
