Optimal storage conditions for potatoes
The best conditions for long-term storage of potatoes are temperatures from +2 to +4°C and air humidity of 85-90%. The storage place should be dry and dark.
Under such conditions, the tubers will last until spring, and some varieties (for example, Lyubava) until the new harvest.
If the temperature in the storage is above +4°C, the tubers will flake and germinate. If it is below the recommended norm, the starch contained in potatoes will be converted into sugar, and the vegetable will become unpalatable.
Is it possible to store potatoes in winter without a cellar?
Basic conditions that must be ensured for successful storage of vegetables:
- temperature +2...+4 degrees Celsius - with such indicators, the tubers are in a passive state, all chemical processes are slowed down, sprouts do not break through, but the potatoes do not freeze;
- darkness;
- ventilation;
- air humidity 70-85%;
- protection against the penetration of various pests: slugs, woodlice, mice, rats.
The above conditions are not something difficult to achieve. It is quite possible to create them without resorting to the construction of a cellar. If there is no deep storage for vegetables, then it is possible to store the harvest in an apartment (country house), on a loggia, in a hole in the garden (in the ground).
Storage methods without a cellar
How to store potatoes without a cellar in a private house? Let's talk about several convenient and low-cost options:
- In the basement or subfield of a private house. The main thing is to ensure good thermal insulation so that the room does not freeze in winter and does not warm up in the warm season.
- In the pile. This is an elongated mound of potatoes, laid in the form of a gable roof and covered with heat-insulating material.
- In a hole or trench covered with heat-insulating material on top.
- At room temperature - in a dark pantry or kitchen cabinet. It is advisable that the selected location is away from heating appliances. At room temperature, vegetables last for several weeks without loss.
How to save potatoes for planting in an apartment
Not all the potatoes collected are used for food. At the sorting stage, tubers are selected from the entire harvest to be used for cooking in the fall and winter. But some of the collected potatoes must be left for next year in order to plant them in the garden. Especially if the harvest from these bushes impressed you. For these purposes, you need to choose smooth, dense tubers that are not too large in size. Make sure that there are no traces of a shovel or fork on them, otherwise the potato itself will get sick and infect all its neighbors. Experienced gardeners know that temporary exposure of vegetables to the sun will help extend the shelf life. Just a few hours are enough for solanine to begin to be synthesized. In large quantities it is dangerous for the digestive tract, but in small doses it creates natural protection against pathogenic microorganisms.
To select seed potatoes for home storage, you must adhere to the following recommendations:
- Do not try to choose the largest tubers; their size should not be gigantic, otherwise they may not last until planting.
- Do not rush to quickly put seed potatoes into storage containers. It is best if she lies in the fresh air for a couple of weeks. Then the tuber will dry out and produce the required amount of solanine.
- Potatoes do not like heat; they thrive at temperatures of +4...+7 °C. But you need to come to them gradually, lowering the temperature by several degrees every day.
- Until the first frost, seed potatoes will lie on the balcony or loggia without any problems.
- To prevent too much moisture from accumulating, you can place a layer of beets on top of the potatoes. Its structure is designed so that the surface of the vegetable is able to absorb all excess moisture.
As soon as the night temperature outside begins to drop below zero, the crop must be brought into the house. Just don't place the box near the battery. Remember - potatoes love cool weather.
Too often, potatoes do not need to be moved from place to place and mixed, but periodically it is necessary to inspect the tubers for the appearance of rot. Young shoots that appear must be removed in a timely manner, and about a month before planting, on the contrary, their growth must be stimulated. To do this, vegetables are placed in a warmer place, it is advisable to increase the temperature daily by 1-2 degrees. The better the germination (i.e., the more sprouts sprout), the better the potatoes will take root and the more harvest will be harvested.
Preparing storage space
Careful preparation of the storage area extends the shelf life of products.
Basement or subfloor
If you plan to store your potato harvest in the basement or subfield of a private house, make sure that the room does not freeze in winter and does not warm up in the warm season. Thermal insulation is made according to the principle of a thermos.
The air in the underground should not stagnate. Air flow is provided by ventilation holes. Disinfection using sulfur bombs, lime or other preparations will help get rid of mold and bacteria in storage.
Burt
When making a pile, the potatoes are placed on the surface of a flat area and covered with heat-insulating material on top. There are also semi-aerial piles, when potatoes are laid out in a pit 25-30 cm deep. The height of the embankment is 90-100 cm.
The potatoes are insulated with a layer of straw (75-80 cm) and a layer of earth on top (up to 50 cm). To prevent rainwater from flowing inside, the ridge is covered with a gable gutter.
Pit
A hole for storing potatoes is dug in a high place so that water does not get in there. The depth of the pit is at least 2 m. Vegetables are laid out in a layer of 80-10 cm at the bottom of the recess. Covered with dry sand and earth on top.
When storing vegetables in pits, it is convenient to use a plastic or metal barrel. It is installed at the bottom of the pit, vegetables are laid and insulation is placed on top.
Foam plastic, fine straw laid in a dense layer, corn leaves and stalks are also suitable for insulation.
And if you use two barrels of different sizes, inserting one into the other, you will get a real thermos in which the crop is not afraid of any frost. The space between the walls of the barrels is filled with heat-insulating material.
Attention! Barrels and boxes installed in the pit will protect the crop from mice.
Such a small cellar can also be set up in a country house, garage or shed to make it convenient to get vegetables in winter. With the arrival of frost, the storage is additionally insulated on top with leaves, peat, and sawdust.
Trench
A trench for storing crops is a ditch up to 0.5 m deep, dug in a dry place. Potatoes are placed in such storage in dry weather. The trench is insulated in the same way as a pit, with several layers (straw, sawdust, peat and earth).
Advice. Insulate the trench from above with spruce branches. This will repel rodents.
A pile, a pit, and a trench are built on a hill so that the place is not flooded with water. In winter, holes and trenches are additionally covered with a thick layer of snow.
Potatoes under straw in trenches 2016. Nekhaev family.
Where and how to store at room temperature in the house
In the house, containers with potatoes are placed in the coolest places: under the windows, near the door in the hallway, in the pantry.
Fresh leaves of rowan or wormwood will help protect vegetables from fungi and bacteria that cause rot. They are used to transfer the tubers in a bag. For every 50 kg of potatoes, about 1 kg of foliage is used.
Dry mint leaves help inhibit the germination process of tubers. They are poured in layers 1-2 cm thick at the bottom of the bag, in the middle and on top of the tubers.
Potatoes stored at home are periodically inspected and sorted. Vegetables with areas of rot are removed, and those that come into contact with rotten ones are eaten first.
Seed potatoes
After harvesting, summer residents sort it into “edible” potatoes and seed material. For planting next year, undamaged tubers of the same size and variety without signs of disease are selected. For therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, potatoes are left in the sun so that the tubers begin to secrete solanine, which protects the seed from bacteria and rot.
A few rules on how to store planting potatoes in an apartment:
- Medium-sized tubers are selected - large root crops may not survive the winter, and it is impractical to plant them.
- Before planting, seed potatoes are kept outdoors in daylight for about two weeks.
- Storage temperature is 5-7°C, it should be lowered gradually - by one or two degrees per day.
- Until frost, the seed is stored on the balcony. Place a thin layer of radishes or beets on top of the potato box to remove moisture.
- If the temperature outside is low, seed potatoes are brought inside to the coolest place.
Periodically, potatoes need to be sorted and checked for rotten root crops, otherwise all the seed material will spoil. If young sprouts quickly appear on the potatoes, they are removed. The storage period for seed potatoes is before planting. Three to four weeks before planting (late February - early March), the sowing potatoes are specially placed in a warm place, raising the temperature a couple of degrees every day so that the tubers sprout. The more young shoots, the higher the likelihood of getting a good harvest.
Preparing potatoes for storage
The preparation process begins with washing (if you want to store washed vegetables for the winter). This allows you to detect all potatoes with signs of disease and damage.
Important! If you decide to store washed potatoes, pay special attention to thoroughly drying the tubers after washing.
After washing or cleaning from lumps of adhering dirt, all potatoes are sorted into small, medium and large. Medium-sized potatoes last the longest. Small and large ones are stored worse. Damaged copies are stored separately and should not go into storage.
Tubers intended for planting in the spring are placed in a separate container.
Washed, sorted and inspected vegetables are laid out to dry in the shade or partial shade for several hours. Turn the potatoes over from time to time.
Storage containers
After drying, the tubers are placed in storage containers:
- canvas bags (it is better not to use polypropylene bags, as they do not breathe);
- cardboard boxes with holes for ventilation;
- wooden boxes;
- special boxes for vegetables.
The filled container is placed in a cool place for several days to cool. After this, the harvest is transferred to the prepared storage.
Do I need to sort tubers?
Potatoes must be carefully reviewed and sorted before storage. The need for such a process is due to the fact that after sampling, all the shortcomings appear on each tuber: scratches, cuts, beginnings of rot, etc. Only careless owners can put low-quality products into storage. Throwing potatoes on a heap will not make the product any better. Then you will have to select and clean it in the middle of winter.
To prevent such an oversight, you need to:
- Select tubers for future planting, dividing them by variety. Seed material can be kept in the sun for several days. Greened tubers last longer and do not attract rodents;
- Re-sort potatoes that are set aside for food consumption in the winter. Large and clean tubers are selected for storage until mid-winter, since voids often form in them and juiciness is lost. Medium-sized tubers with dry skin are stored until spring. Potatoes with cuts and signs of late blight are used first.
When selecting, take into account that the total mass does not require tubers with obvious damage: scratches, cuts, rot. Poor-quality potatoes, even if there are few of them, will ruin the entire crop stored for storage.
Storage recommendations
Recommendations from experienced gardeners will help preserve the harvest until spring without loss.
Variety selection
Only late and mid-season varieties are stored for long-term storage. Early ripening potatoes are not suitable for winter storage. Even if optimal conditions are created, it will last no more than 2-3 months after digging.
The growth period of mid- and late-ripening varieties is from 90 to 140 days. They contain the maximum amount of carbohydrates and nutrients.
Popular late varieties include Picasso (Dutch selection), Temp (large-fruited variety), Nevsky (medium-fruited variety with round tubers), Nikulinsky (with medium-sized oval tubers), Zhuravinka (Belarusian selection, drought-resistant).
Careful sorting
Before storing vegetables in storage, they are carefully inspected and sorted. All specimens with signs of disease and damage to the skin are rejected.
Attention! Only tubers that are completely healthy and have no damage to the skin can remain for a long time.
Damaged potatoes are stored separately and eaten first.
Storage in small containers
Sorted and dried potatoes are laid out in small wooden boxes, plastic boxes or linen bags. This way the potatoes are better ventilated and less susceptible to spoilage.
Storing separately from other vegetables
It is better to store potato tubers separately from other vegetables. The only good neighbor for potatoes is beets. It absorbs moisture evaporated by the tubers.
Compliance with recommended temperature and humidity levels
An increase in air temperature leads to increased evaporation of moisture. As a result, the tubers become flabby and sprouts appear. Lowering the temperature negatively affects the taste of the vegetable; it freezes and acquires a sweetish taste.
Inspection and overhaul
All vegetables stored in storage are periodically inspected for areas of rot or other problems. If tubers that have begun to rot are not removed in time, the problem will quickly spread to neighboring healthy vegetables.
Failure to comply with the rules for storing potatoes will inevitably lead to spoilage, the development of diseases and crop losses.
Useful tips
Although an apartment is not the best place for long-term storage of potatoes, you can still find an acceptable way to keep supplies throughout the winter. Useful tips to help you store different amounts of vegetables all year round:
- It is difficult to keep young potatoes in the summer - the tubers dry out from the heat. You can place a plastic bottle of water near the container (cut off the neck).
- A small amount of vegetables can be kept under the kitchen sink - a wicker basket, plastic basin or bucket with holes will do.
- If you put mint leaves or apples on boxes of potatoes, the tubers will not sprout quickly. It is better to store them separately from other vegetables.
- Boxes with potatoes should be placed at a height of 15-20 cm from the floor, without moving them close to the wall.
- The following plants help to store potatoes longer: ginger root, beets, onion peels, elderberry, fern, mint, rowan, cherry, wormwood.
From all the rules, tips and recommendations, we can conclude that it is quite possible to store potatoes in an apartment in a cool room, limiting the harvest from natural and artificial light. It is necessary to constantly maintain temperature and humidity conditions, provide air access, and periodically sort through the vegetables.
Tips from Mister Summer Resident
Lately, running your own household has become increasingly popular. Everyone wants to eat natural products that have grown on their own plot. But not all household plots are located near residential buildings that are used in winter. Therefore, many gardeners are forced to store harvested vegetables in the apartment. This is quite possible if you think through the conditions in advance and follow several rules, which our portal https://mrdachnik.com reminds you of:
- New potatoes that you plan to eat during the summer months are much more difficult to preserve in their original form due to the high temperatures in July and August. To replenish the amount of evaporated moisture from the surface of the tubers, place a container filled with water in the storage location.
- One of the priority places in the kitchen in order to store part of the harvest is the drawer under the sink or sink. It is best if the potatoes are kept in a ventilated container. Some housewives use baskets or boxes with holes for this.
- Isolate potatoes from all other vegetables and fruits; this vegetable does not tolerate almost any proximity.
- Wormwood, rowan and mint, placed in a box with the harvest, will help slow down the process of the appearance of early shoots.
- Never place boxes too close to the wall. This may cause condensation to form. If they stand on a concrete floor, then make an impromptu podium, for example, from bars 10 cm high.
Common mistakes
There are no tricks to storing potatoes. But sometimes it happens that the crop deteriorates, becomes deformed and dries out. This can happen for a number of reasons. Let's look at the main storage errors:
- Sorting was carried out superficially; damaged tubers were included in the general mass.
- Early varieties that were not intended for these purposes were selected for storage.
- Next to the potatoes were other vegetable crops.
- The temperature regime was violated and humidity indicators were not observed.
- The harvest storage area was poorly prepared.
