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Almost in every family it is customary to harvest potatoes for the winter. To do this, in the fall, they harvest from the fields or buy a vegetable at the fair and put it in storage in the cellar. Unfortunately, a situation often arises in which potatoes rot during storage, lose moisture, and begin to sprout. Such troubles can arise due to improper storage conditions, certain characteristics of the variety, latent tuber diseases and other reasons. We will talk about how to store potatoes in the cellar correctly and avoid all possible troubles in the following article.
Optimal storage conditions
Not every owner manages to preserve potatoes until spring without losing quality. Most often this is due to the lack of necessary storage conditions. But what is the correct way to store potatoes so that with the arrival of spring the product in the bins remains fresh? And it is better to do this in a cellar, where it is dark, dry and there are no temperature fluctuations.
Optimal storage conditions for a vegetable assume a temperature of + 2- + 40C. At elevated air temperatures, potatoes begin to germinate quickly, lose moisture, and wither. Its consumer qualities are sharply deteriorating. At temperatures below the recommended values, potatoes acquire a sweetish taste. Frozen tubers become a little slimy during cooking.
Air humidity in the cellar plays no less important role than temperature. Its optimal indicator is 80-85%. The increased level of humidity promotes the development of fungi and viruses, as a result of which the tubers rot and become covered with mold. In an excessively dry room, tubers lose moisture, which also negatively affects the quality of the product.
It is possible to understand how the above requirements are being met only if a thermometer and a humidity meter are installed in the cellar. You can regulate the temperature and humidity in the storage in the following ways:
- To reduce the temperature, you can open the shower trays in winter or place containers with frozen water around the perimeter of the room.
- You can warm the potatoes in the cellar with a cotton blanket, burlap, sprinkled with a layer of dry sand or straw. Hot water bottles placed around the perimeter of the cellar will also increase the air temperature.
- You can reduce the humidity in the cellar by placing containers with slaked lime or covering the tubers with hygroscopic material (burlap). A layer of beets on top of the potato mound will also absorb excess moisture.
- The easiest way to increase the moisture level in the cellar is to spray the walls with water from a spray bottle.
Thus, by choosing a place for storing potatoes, if necessary, you can adjust the temperature and humidity indicators of the air in it. However, it will not be possible to artificially maintain an optimal microclimate in the cellar constantly. This will unnecessarily take a lot of time and effort, therefore the listed measures are more likely a way to get out of a force majeure situation when weather conditions change dramatically. In general, the characteristics of the cellar must initially meet the above requirements.
Not every potato variety is suitable for storage
Even in conditions with optimal humidity and temperature, potatoes can go bad during winter storage. The fact is that not all varieties are suitable for long-term storage:
- Early and mid-early potatoes can be stored for up to 2 months. This category includes such well-known varieties as "Aurora", "Hostess", "Rocco", "Peter's Riddle" and some others.
- All late varieties of potatoes are usually stored without any problems until the next harvest. The leaders in terms of shelf life are the varieties "Zhuravinka", "Atlant", "Chaika", "Slavyanka".
- The exceptions to the rule are the Scarlett and Nevsky varieties. This potato does not belong to the category of late varieties, but at the same time it demonstrates high indicators of keeping quality and taste.
The characteristics of keeping quality of potatoes depend not only on the selected variety, but also on the conditions in which it grew:
- growing potatoes in the rainy season can lead to a 50% loss in yield;
- vegetables grown on sandy soils are stored much better than on heavy types of soil;
- increased potassium and low nitrogen allow for a crop with increased storage capacity;
- various diseases affecting potatoes during cultivation can damage up to 70% of the crop during storage. At the same time, even careful selection of tubers does not always reduce the percentage of losses, since fruit defects can be hidden deep inside.
When laying potatoes for storage in a cellar, it is necessary to take into account all the above factors and, if possible, take all measures to reduce their impact. So, you can improve the storage of potatoes in the cellar by observing some rules for harvesting and preparing it at the stage even before laying it in the cellar.
Preparing potatoes for long-term storage
It is necessary to ensure that the storage of potatoes in the cellar is long and successful even before the harvest. So, viruses and bacteria can be on the leaves of the tops, which accidentally fall on the surface of the tubers during the digging process and activate their harmful activity after laying the vegetables for storage.
Tubers, being in the ground for a week after mowing, acquire a coarser skin, which is resistant to mechanical damage and contributes to long-term storage of tubers.
After harvesting, you should not rush to store it, because before lowering the potato into the cellar, it must go through the following steps:
Stage of treatment
Immediately after the potatoes are on the surface of the earth, you do not need to pour them into bags or boxes, because the tubers must go through the so-called stage of treatment. To do this, they are left to dry out at the growing site. In direct sunlight, potatoes can stay without loss of quality for no more than two hours, after which the crop must be transferred under a shed. Unhindered access of fresh air will allow all wounds and damage on the surface of the tubers to heal, their skin will become coarser and more resistant to mechanical damage and disease.
Sorting
As a rule, owners who grow potatoes on their own land plots independently select planting material for next year in the fall. Seed potatoes are scattered on a sunny plot of land for 1-2 days, so that solanine is developed in the tubers and they become slightly green. These seed potatoes will keep well until spring comes. Rodents and other pests will ignore it.
Further sorting consists in the selection of the most "beautiful" potatoes for storing for long-term storage. They must be ripe, dry, free from visible damage on the surface and no shoots. Tubers of very large sizes, as well as damaged tubers, are laid for an average shelf life. Crushed, damaged by diseases and other "dubious" specimens of tubers should not be lowered into the cellar at all, since they can damage a large number of vegetables around them during the laying process.
Cooling
The cooling period precedes placing the potatoes in the cellar or cellar. This stage consists in a gradual change in the temperature regime. For two weeks, reduce the temperature to + 2- + 40C. This allows you to slow down the biochemical processes in the tubers and prepare vegetables for long-term storage.
Carrying out all the above stages of potato preparation, it will be possible to store only a high-quality, selective product, which, even with the arrival of spring, will not significantly change its characteristics.
A clean cellar will preserve the harvest
Each owner has the right to decide how potatoes in winter in the cellar: in bulk, in fabric bags or boxes. At the same time, there are general rules for preparing premises and containers for the winter period. So, before storing potatoes it is necessary to disinfect the premises. For this, the walls, stairs, shelves and all other elements of the cellar are treated with a solution of lime with the addition of copper sulfate. For disinfection, you can also use a concentrated solution of potassium permanganate. After processing, the room must be dried. To do this, open the vents or hood.
You can learn more about the processing of the cellar from the video:
Potatoes are stored in bulk, without using special containers, as a rule, if the amount of harvest is not too large, since this method has one significant drawback: if there are 2-3 foci of decay, you can quickly lose a large amount of potatoes. Before storing vegetables in bulk, you need to take care of installing pallets that will provide ventilation at the bottom of the cellar.
Many owners find that it is better to store potatoes in containers and boxes, since they are easy to install in several rows, making the most of the free cellar space. Such a container provides good ventilation of vegetables, preventing rotting and the development of diseases.
Sacks and nets are most often used by farmers for harvesting for subsequent sale. The use of bags made from natural materials also ensures the necessary air circulation. When a focus of decay appears, only a small amount of potatoes are damaged.
It is possible to properly store potatoes in the cellar only if the rules for preparing the premises and containers are observed. Otherwise, fungi, bacteria and viruses from year to year will cause more damage to the crop during storage.
A video on how to store potatoes in a cellar in winter can be useful not only for beginners, but also for experienced owners:
Spring sprouts
After studying the above material, even an inexperienced owner will know how to properly store potatoes in the cellar. However, with the arrival of spring, the tubers inevitably begin to awaken. The awakening time depends largely on the variety and storage conditions: early varieties wake up in mid-February, late potatoes can be stored unchanged until April. You can slow down the sprouting process by lowering the temperature to + 1- + 20C. If large shoots appear, they should be removed mechanically.
Conclusion
Thus, it becomes clear that it is not enough just to grow a good harvest of potatoes on your site or purchase it at the fair.It is much more important to know how to preserve potatoes during the winter. After all, the quality of the product during the maturation process can significantly deteriorate and then all the efforts and efforts will be spent in vain. In order to prevent this from happening, it is important to know and remember the basic rules for sorting and preparing the crop for laying, take into account the recommended storage conditions. Only by fulfilling all storage requirements can you stock up on good potatoes, which will delight with their taste until the new harvest ripens.
