How and where to store potatoes at home: tips

Potato storage is a necessary process, as this food crop is leading after cereals. There are thousands of varieties that can be grown in a variety of climatic conditions. To preserve the harvest, they choose the methods as long as possible: in the porch, on the balcony, in the garage, etc., but the product is preserved best with a competent approach to the arrangement of the place and the implementation of important recommendations.

Harvesting and preparing potatoes for storage

To store potatoes at home, you need to properly prepare it. Potatoes can only be stored successfully if they have been digging for several hours under the sun to dry out after digging. The ultraviolet rays can remove fungal-bacterial spores, which will prevent the formation of infection. Each tuber needs to be carefully shaken off the ground.

Store potatoes in the cellar in the winter only healthy. Remove all diseased vegetables, and it is better to burn them, especially if there is a defeat of late blight and other fungal diseases.

Advice:

1. Before immersing the product in a chest for storing potatoes, carefully spray it with biological products in the form of phytosporin, bactofite, etc.
2. Dry in a dark place.
3. Fill the container only to the permissible volume, so that later it would be convenient to sort and remove damaged tubers.

Mixing of early and medium and late varieties is not recommended. This will lead to decay of the first and damage to the rest.

Potato storage conditions

It is permissible to store potatoes at a positive temperature but not more than +5, with an air humidity of 80-90%. Accordingly, storing potatoes on the balcony in winter is only possible if it is insulated and waterproofing is present. Otherwise, vegetables quickly:

• it is frozen;
• gain flabbiness;
• sprout.

With the right approach and the right temperature, you can store potatoes almost until spring. She will remain strong, whole and healthy.

Keeping potatoes in the refrigerator or making a potato box with your own hands is everyone’s personal business, but how to keep the potato harvest depends on the place and method.

Room or hallway

Potatoes can be saved without a cellar in this way, but additional space in the apartment will be required. As containers, use boxes made by yourself. It is better to choose a corridor, since there the temperature of storing potatoes in the winter is more optimal than indoors.

Disadvantages:

• temperature changes;
• short shelf life;
• low security;
• Conflict with neighbors on the site.

The method is not bad and will allow you to save the product almost until the beginning of spring, without loss of taste.

Cellar

The temperature in the cellar for storing potatoes is considered ideal and this method is more often chosen by Russian and other citizens. The advantage is maintaining a constant and necessary level of humidity and air temperature. Elimination of ultraviolet rays contributing to the production of corned beef.

As a container for storage, use boxes made of plastic or wood.4-6 cm slots should be in the bottom to ensure breathability. The container should also be treated with only a solution of manganese, after which careful drying is needed. It is permissible to store vegetables in baskets without lids, but they need to be immersed to a depth of 1.5 m. If the cellar has high humidity, then the floor is best made from bars, floorboards and sawdust.

Kitchen or pantry

Storage of potatoes in the refrigerator is mainly temporary, and if you prepare the space in the kitchen, you can place a large batch, which will be consumed recently. The microclimate of the living room is not suitable for such a culture during its storage, and therefore, they use a well-ventilated, preferably unheated and dark pantry. There are many design ideas for arranging such a functional place in the house, without affecting the main area of ​​the apartment.

The fact that it is possible to store potatoes in the refrigerator is thought by many, especially those who do not have a pantry, a garage, or a cellar. In this case, only a small amount can be taken for storage, and you need to:

• choose the right container;
• ensure competent neighborhood;
• take care of regular viewing to avoid rotting and mold.

Balcony

It is permissible to store potatoes on the balcony in winter, for which it is similar to make or buy boxes. Products can be of two types - nesting dolls, in which the difference in wall height can be 5-7 cm. Fill the remaining space:

• sawdust;
• foam or other material that can absorb moisture.

At The container must have a double, insulated lid to prevent damage to the crop from a sharp temperature drop or leakage from neighbors.

Types of containers for laying potatoes for storage

Each person can do the storage of potatoes at home, but you need to take care of the preparation of the container and inspect the potato storage. A wooden box for potatoes is the best option. Plates should be brought down with gaps between the canvases. The top cover is not needed. The optimum capacity is 10-12 kg.

Such containers are easy to carry and sort. The box for storing potatoes on the balcony in the winter or in the cellar is located so that there is free space of about 35 cm near the walls and the bottom. Separate the container for storing potatoes from the top of the next block by 15 cm.

It is forbidden to lay close to the ceiling, since there must be a distance of 60cm. Correctly store potatoes and periodically sort it out in mesh bags. They:

• durable;
• breathable.

How to increase the shelf life

To store potatoes in the winter, you need to create special conditions and follow the recommendations of specialists. This will help to extend the period of maintaining optimal condition.

1. Transfer each layer of potatoes with dried plants, for example, fern or wormwood.
2. It is permissible to make a shift using pine and spruce branches.
3. To reduce the risk of rotting the tubers, sprinkle with finely grated garlic. Enough 100 g per 100 kg.
4. Harvest should be stored in a dark room.Constant contact with the rays of light will cause the development of solanine, the use of which is fraught with serious poisoning or even death.
5. The optimum temperature level is + 3 + 5C. If the indicator is exceeded, the storage of potatoes in the cellar is reduced to 3 months.

At too low a temperature, the root crop acquires a sweet taste, begins to rot from the inside. Low humidity, less than 80% contributes to structural changes and leads to sagging.

What varieties of potatoes are best stored

To store potatoes in the apartment and not only, you can choose any variety, but they will have different terms. For two months, it is permissible to store medium-early and middle-ripening potatoes.

1. Aurora.
2. Rococo.
3. Ketsky.
4. Pyrolyte.

To store potatoes in the apartment until spring, a medium-late and late-ripening variety is suitable. For example:

• Gatchinsky;
• Atlant
• Asterix;
• Gingerbread man, etc.

In addition, how to properly store potatoes in the cellar depends on the climatic conditions of the region, the degree of readiness of the room for the location of the crop and its quality.

Possible mistakes

It is simply impossible to store potatoes in an apartment in the winter without knowledge of the rules of keeping. The most important thing is to choose the right variety. An early-ripened tuber will not be able to lie in perfect form until spring, even if the recommendations of experts are correctly followed. Such vegetables will be preserved at best until November, no more. There are a number of mistakes made by those who purchase or prepare a large amount of potatoes for the winter:

1. Selected low-quality raw materials. The product must be healthy, carefully sorted and dry.
2. Accommodation is done separately from other vegetable crops. When in the vicinity of beets, moisture is absorbed by the latter species, which is the prevention of fungus, mold and rot.
3. A special level of temperature and moisture is required. The temperature can withstand potatoes not lower than + 2C.
4. It is strictly forbidden to skip over the product in preparation for wintering. You need to eliminate tubers that are affected by disease, fungus and the like.
5. It is not advisable to contain raw materials in bags. Thus, it is impossible to constantly sort through vegetables to detect low-quality potatoes.

Keep young potatoes in the houses you need correctly. Prepare a cool place to prevent germination. The main threat to the crop is a high level of humidity and air temperature. They lead to fungus, rot, and other ill effects. Proper compliance with the above recommendations will avoid such problems.