The best storage of carrots for the winter without a cellar, long

Cellar or basement is the best place to store carrots. But not all have such facilities. Properly organized preparation of fruits and the creation of optimal conditions for them will allow to keep the harvest in the apartment for a long time.

Selection and preparation of suitable fruits

The right choice of root vegetables is a very crucial moment. Not all varieties of carrots are able to be stored for a long period of time.

Preference should be given late-ripening varieties (Shantane, Queen of autumn, Cascade, Karlen). Mid-season varieties are kept worse. For a relatively long time only certain varieties can lie: the Red Giant, the Moscow Winter, Flacce, Viking, Altair.

Early ripe vegetables do not withstand prolonged storage, because they deteriorate very quickly.

Before laying the fruit must be prepared:

1. Vegetables are carefully inspected and sorted. In the first pile lay only ripe, hard roots without visible damage. Soft, damaged and greenish should be used immediately or frozen.
2. If there are clumps of soil on the fruits, they are carefully shaken off. It is not recommended to wash them. After cleaning the vegetables for 2-3 days dried in the shade.
3. It is advisable to fold the harvest of each variety separately, because carrots tend to germinate. It is also recommended to store in different containers large and small fruits.

There is no confirmed information on the effect of the shape and size of the fetus on the shelf life. But experienced growers are advised to set aside medium cone-shaped vegetables for the winter.

Necessary conditions for the flat storage of vegetables

To maintain freshness requires a temperature range from 0 to + 2. At higher temperatures, the process of wilting and germination will begin. If the thermometer shows below zero, the roots will freeze.

It is clear that in a living room it is impossible to maintain the optimum temperature for vegetable storage.

If the layout does not provide for a balcony or cellar, suitable for saving vegetables, long-term harvest without additional processing can be stored only in the refrigerator.

The fruits are folded in plastic bags and placed on the bottom shelf (or in a special box for vegetables). As needed, carrots are taken out of the bag, after which it is tightly closed again.

However, treating the fruit with manganese or paraffin, you can achieve long-term storage, even in apartment conditions. The rules are simple:

• do not store vegetables near radiators;
• often air the room;
• Do not allow an increase in humidity.

It is better to store fruits in a box with sawdust or sand.

Processing carrots manganese and paraffin

Root vegetables before storage is recommended to be treated with potassium permanganate. This is especially true of vegetables affected by pests.

Potassium permanganate is an excellent antiseptic. It protects the crop from white rot and pests. Potassium permanganate diluted with water. The solution should be of medium strength. You can determine the degree of readiness by color - the appropriate solution will have a rich purple hue.

Root vegetables spread in a large container and completely pour the resulting liquid. There they are left for 2 hours. Then take out and thoroughly dried. Potassium permanganate is guaranteed to protect against white rot spreading to neighboring vegetables.

But it will not warn the black rot, therefore, regardless of whether the harvest has been disinfected or not, it will have to be periodically examined for signs of black rot.

Root vegetables experienced housewives also process paraffin. This substance can significantly extend the shelf life. Paraffin is melted first. Then in a container with the obtained slightly cooled mass put carrots. Paraffin layer slows the process of wilting vegetables, allowing them to save until next summer.

Save carrots in this way, as a rule, until January-early February. Periodically should inspect the roots, in time to extract the fruit with signs of rot.