Notice: Undefined variable: css_padding in /home/g/grigorig/prodachnika.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/vote2x/vote.php on line 100 Notice: Undefined variable: css_opacity in /home/g/grigorig/prodachnika. com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/vote2x/vote.php on line 101 Notice: Undefined index: prodachnika_comvote2x9131 in /home/g/grigorig/prodachnika.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/vote2x/vote.php on line 118 Storing carrots in the basement in winter is not an easy thing because, unlike other vegetables, carrots have a very thin skin through which bacteria can easily penetrate. In addition, carrots are more prone to fungal diseases than other vegetables. Therefore, to keep your carrots healthy and intact throughout the winter, you need to have a lot of gardening knowledge.
Causes of carrot rot
Often, after harvesting, vegetable growers notice that the carrots lying in the cellar begin to rot. This happens for the following reasons:
- the summer was rainy, the crop was often watered, which is why water stagnated in the beds, the soil was waterlogged;
- the weather in summer was cold, the earth was not warmed up well;
- the soil is poor in potassium;
- It rained during harvest, so the carrots ended up in storage raw;
- root crops were collected after frost;
- the vegetables were not sorted before being placed in storage, so damaged or diseased specimens ended up in the cellar;
- the harvest was kept at high humidity and air temperature.
Even one of these reasons leads to the appearance of mold, and when several factors are combined, the risk of vegetable spoilage increases. Most often they are affected by brown and dry fusarium rot.
Types of carrot rot
Soft rot (mucous bacteriosis).
You can often notice the first signs of the disease in the garden: the leaves darken and wither, parts of the tops may be covered with mucus. However, most often the disease manifests itself after storing the crop. The insides of the root crop soften, turning into a characteristic putrefactive mass with an unpleasant odor, while the skin may remain intact. Sometimes the first sign of soft rot is dark spots with an unpleasant odor that quickly increase in size. Soft rot tends to quickly move from diseased root crops to healthy ones and can destroy the entire crop in storage. Damaged carrots should be removed from storage immediately.
Alternaria (black rot).
A fungal disease develops especially actively in high humidity. In damp and cold summers it can cause the death of the tops: the leaves turn brown and black, starting from the tips, and quickly rot. During storage, Alternaria manifests itself by the appearance of dry, dark, depressed spots, on which a greenish coating of mold may be detected. Gradually, dense rot of an intense black color develops in their place. Like other fungal infections, Alternaria quickly spreads in storage. The infection is also dangerous because it is easily transmitted through infected seeds and leads to seedlings becoming infected with blackleg.
Fomoz (dry, brown rot).
A characteristic sign of phomosis is the appearance of spots or transverse stripes, first at the top of the root crop and gradually spreading over the entire surface. The spots are dark, depressed, with a brownish tint; fungal spores may be visible in the form of dark dots. Over time, deep ulcers and white rot appear in their place.
Scab (rhizoctoniosis).
A disease of fungal origin, it manifests itself on root crops with gray spots, which then acquire a purple tint. As the disease progresses, the carrots dry out and may be additionally affected by various types of rot.
Sclerotinia (white rot).
A common fungal disease that affects a wide variety of crops, even trees and shrubs. On carrot root crops it manifests itself as softening and watery tissue in the absence of a putrefactive odor. A dense white coating, reminiscent of cotton wool, quickly forms on the affected areas. Sometimes there may be no plaque; the disease is determined only by the progressive softening of the roots. The spread of the disease in the storage facility is facilitated by high temperature (above +20 °C) and humidity of more than 90%.
Diseases that cause rot
Rot does not appear immediately: the incubation period of diseases lasts from 3 weeks to 2 months. If you do not notice the danger in time, it is easy to lose the entire harvest.
White rot
When root crops grow, sclerotinia does not manifest itself, but by the time they ripen it becomes active.
Main signs of the disease:
- The surface of the carrot becomes wet and slippery, but the color does not change.
- The affected areas become covered with a fungus that resembles white cotton wool. After some time, it thickens and hard black growths appear on the vegetables.
Sources of infection are soil and premises in which diseased vegetables were previously stored.
Important! Sclerotinia (the causative fungus) exhibits maximum activity at 4–9 weeks, so during this period the vegetables in the cellar are inspected again.
Infected carrots should not be eaten. It should not be thrown into the compost heap, as this will spread fungal spores throughout the area.
Gray rot
Gray mold, or botrythiosis, occurs due to hypothermia, insufficient watering and other violations of agricultural practices.
Main signs of the disease:
- carrots become soft and wet;
- covered with gray spots, in place of which thread-like stripes later form.
If measures are not taken, when storing contaminated vegetables in an isolated room, crop losses will amount to up to 85%.
Black rot
Alternaria blight is caused by carrot fly and mechanical damage to root crops. On the site, the sources of the disease are contaminated seeds and soil, fungal spores on garden tools.
Scab (rhizoctoniosis, felt disease)
The invisible “saboteur” in this case is a fungus, which lives especially comfortably in storage facilities with an artificial cooling system. However, the presence of natural cooling is not a panacea for scab. The disease may appear after 2-3 months of storage, when you decide that the attack has spared the root crops. Yield losses can reach 10%.
The main habitat of the fungus is soil. Therefore, the main reason for its spread can be called a violation of crop rotation. But a fungal infection can be introduced into storage and with containers, especially if it has been used without treatment for several years in a row.
When storing carrots in plastic bags (film thickness 50-60 microns, capacity 30-35 kg), the probability of disease is reduced to 0.1-0.2%. This is especially true for root crops with mechanical damage.
Symptoms : shallow sores with a diameter of 1-6 mm of round, oval or irregular shape appear on root crops. White mushroom mycelium is visible on them. Nearby ulcers merge into one large one, but the depth of the lesion remains superficial. The mycelium can change color from white to light brown. Affected root crops very quickly lose their marketable appearance, which is no longer restored.
What to do with rotting carrots
If the vegetables in storage begin to rot, they are sorted out. Damaged specimens are placed in plastic bags and taken away or burned to destroy fungal spores. The container in which the carrots were placed is washed with a solution of potassium permanganate.
For further storage, completely healthy root vegetables are left. To protect against diseases, they are treated with Fitop-Flora-S.
Prevention measures
To prevent the harvest from going to waste, special attention is paid to disease prevention:
- To prevent white rot of carrots, crop rotation is observed: the crop is not planted after tomatoes or cucumbers. Increase the amount of potassium and phosphorus fertilizers.
- Separate storage of carrots and cabbage or celery will protect vegetables from gray rot. Before planting, the seeds are disinfected by keeping them in water heated to +50°C for half an hour.
- To ensure that the crop is not affected by Alternaria, the temperature regime is observed. Optimal values in the cellar are -2...+2°С, humidity is at least 80%. The room must be well ventilated.
- To protect against scab, the soil is limed. When storing vegetables, sprinkle them with dry sand or place them in plastic bags with holes.
- To prevent Phoma from developing, root crops are carefully dug out of the ground. When preparing the soil in autumn, add 40 g of potassium chloride per 1 m². 2 weeks before harvesting, the crop is fed with the same product (50 g per 10 liters of water).
- Compliance with the rules of crop rotation will protect root crops from fusarium. Seeds and soil are treated with Fundazol.
- To prevent powdery mildew, seeds are heated in hot (+50...+55°C) water, disinfected with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, the rules of crop rotation are observed, and the plants are thinned out.
- To prevent rhizoctonia on carrots, soil liming is highly effective. The crop is not planted in one place more than once every 3-4 years. Plants are treated with HOM.
Storage methods
In addition to those mentioned above, there are a number of technologies for storing vegetables . What unites all these methods is the preliminary preparation of carrots, according to which the root vegetables must be cleared of soil and damaged fruits must be removed. Then you should divide the vegetables by size and cut off the tops at a distance of 1–2 mm from the base.
Find out how to properly store carrots in a private house and apartment in winter.
In plastic bags
Carrots are placed in tight polyethylene bags, after making several holes in their lower part. This manipulation is carried out so that the condensate formed during storage drains. Filled bags are not tied to avoid the accumulation of carbon dioxide.
In the sawdust
To store the product in this way, it is necessary to sprinkle the fruits with sawdust from coniferous trees, since they contain phenolic substances that slow down the development of mold and putrefactive bacteria. This material is used both when placing carrots in plastic or wooden containers, and by pouring them onto shelves in the cellar.
How to properly store carrots in a basement or subfield
Only healthy root crops without mechanical damage are sent to the cellar for storage. Carrots are kept in:
Once every 2-3 weeks, vegetables are inspected and damaged roots are removed in a timely manner.
Advice. The harvest from the beds is harvested on a dry day at an air temperature of +4...+6°C. Carrot tops must be trimmed at a distance of 1 cm from the base of the root crop.
What to do if mold appears on carrots in the cellar? The harvest is removed, the storage facility is treated with antifungal agents or sulfur bombs, the walls are ventilated and insulated with waterproofing materials. The containers are washed with a solution of potassium permanganate, and the gardening gloves they were wearing are thrown away.
Which storage option is considered the best?
beds
One of the oldest methods is storing carrots in the ground . This method is convenient when there is a lack of time for harvesting, as well as space for its placement.
The area that will subsequently serve as a storage place for carrots must meet the following requirements:
Important! Root vegetables stored in the garden must be used immediately, as they have a short shelf life.
The technology is as follows:
Using enamel pans
To store the product in such a container, it is necessary to carry out a number of preparatory work. The harvested crop is washed, the tops are completely cut off, after which the fruits are dried in the sun so that no moisture remains on them. The carrots are placed vertically in the pan, pressing tightly against each other. The vegetables are covered with a layer of parchment and a lid on top.
Did you know? Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which has a positive effect on the health of the visual organs, as well as the lungs.
In plastic boxes
The main advantage of this container is considered to be the resistance of plastic to the diffusion of fungal diseases and mold. Before placing in containers, carrots are prepared as in the above method. The bottom of the box is covered with a layer of material that absorbs moisture. This could be paper, sand or sawdust. Vegetables are placed on top, calculating no more than 20 kg per container.
In wooden boxes
According to this method, pre-prepared carrots are placed in a box, covered with a wooden lid and placed in the cellar at a distance of 1–2 cm from the walls and 20 cm above the floor. To do this, it is necessary to build special racks.
The carrots placed in the cellar for storage began to rot with white rot. How to save the harvest?
Question from a member of our VK group Irina: Please share your advice. I dug up the carrots, dried them and put them in the cellar (as always). And the carrots began to rot with white rot. How to save the harvest? Maybe someone has the same problem?
Discussion in our VKontakte group:
Roma Aleksandrov: You probably have a damp cellar, the same happens with us (( Olga Andronova: A very necessary question, I’ll listen to the practitioners. Anya Dobrogorskaya: The variety is not for storage. In such a situation, I cleaned almost everything - I ground it into sandwich bags in the freezer "They ate it before spring, and what was left in the basement had to be thrown away. Jeanne Gilbert: There are special devices that dry the air in the room. They look like a small heater, and a large tablet is placed inside to absorb moisture. You can also buy it at a garden store." Vermiculite" (special granules!), they preserve vegetables. Andalaev Anbalaev: Hello, there is another way to preserve them in sand: put dry sand in a box, bury the carrots and put them in a cool, dry room. Elena Alexandrova: Spoiled fruits are now only for processing or for discarding. Before storing, I rinsed the beets and carrots in a solution of phytosporin. There were not enough carrots, they had already been eaten, but the beets lay well. I bought anti-rot for the potatoes. I sprayed both the cellar and the potatoes. Maybe you can spray the remaining fruits with anti-rot.
Jeanne Gilbert: Elena, yes, yes! A good option. A friend does exactly this in the fall. The harvest is stored well. Tatyana Shevchenko: You can also try coating each carrot with slaked lime. Olga Safonova: We store it in sand. Vera Gazeeva: Last year I threw it all away Galina Soboleva: Once mine also started to rot, I ground it all up and put it in the freezer, enough for a new one. Tatyana Ventskel: From year to year it starts to deteriorate from the top. First a black ring, and then rot, regardless of the storage method. Tamara Filina: Universally stored in moss. In the spring - like from the garden Natalia Pashkova: My grandmother buried carrots in the sand. It seems like everything was stored.
Fomoz (dry or brown rot)
The disease was first discovered in Denmark at the end of the 19th century, and since then it has spread among vegetable crops around the world. Plants of the first year of cultivation are affected by 20-70%, and seed plants - by 30-100%. The main danger of Phoma is that it affects root crops at all stages. The fungus spreads throughout the vegetable, forming spots and releasing a sticky mass, which subsequently leads to rotting of the fruit.
Symptoms : during winter storage of carrots, phomosis first appears at its tip, and then on other parts of the root crop. Against an orange background, gray, slightly depressed spots or shallow transverse dark stripes become clearly visible. In these places, the tissue is destroyed, abscesses and ulcers form, destroying the fruit to the very core. When the root is cut, the tissue becomes soft, loose, with traces of mycelium. Unlike black rot, it is dark brown or dark brown.
The disease spreads very cleverly. It can hide in apparently healthy root crops and destroy them at the stage of planting on the seeds. Or the mycelium may remain in them, which waits for the plant to grow, and then the diseased bush becomes the source of infection. The fungus is not afraid of harsh winters either - it can withstand frosts down to –25°C and live in the soil for up to 3 years.
Measures to combat Phomasis:
1. Carefully remove and transport carrots to prevent mechanical damage. Carefully inspect root crops before storing them and destroy diseased specimens. 2. Disinfect storage facilities using a 40% formaldehyde solution (1 part formaldehyde to 100 parts water) or copper sulfate (1 part vitriol to 45 parts water). Fumigate the room (at the rate of 60 g of sulfur per 1 cubic meter of room). 3. Store root vegetables at a temperature of 0-1°C and air humidity of 88-90%. These values must remain constant. 4. Soak uterine roots in a 5% Fundazol suspension according to the instructions. 5. During the growing season, treat seed plants with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture at the rate of 0.6-0.8 l/sq.m.
The following carrot varieties are considered relatively resistant to Phoma: Dolyanka, Coral, Calgary F1, Callisto, Supernant.
Why do carrots rot during storage?
Have there been any cases of carrots being damaged during storage? Not many people know how to properly store carrots, so they make the simplest mistakes. In many cases, the entire carrot crop may be lost due to diseases that appear during storage. What diseases you can encounter and how to prevent them will be discussed below.
Carrots may rot during storage. Photo: fermoved.ru
