How to store potatoes in the cellar. How to properly store potatoes in the cellar in winter? Types of containers for storing potatoes

Potatoes have become a part of our daily diet - we boil them, stew them, fry them, bake them, and prepare holiday dishes from them. It is difficult to imagine a whole winter without this essential vegetable, especially considering the beneficial properties of potatoes and their nutritional value. Therefore, in every family, with the onset of autumn, the question arises: “How to store potatoes?”

After all, it is quite expensive to buy tubers in the store all year round; it is more profitable to make supplies in advance. And if you grow vegetables on your own plot, storing potatoes becomes especially important. Where to place the bags with dug up tubers so that before the next harvest you can prepare a variety of dishes?

Of course, the best option is storing potatoes in the cellar, but if you live in a city apartment, and there is no underground or basement in your house, you can put bags of potatoes in the pantry, in the hallway, adapt the boxes for harvest in the living rooms, or take them out to the balcony. In warm rooms, tubers can be stored for three months, and on the balcony, potatoes in insulated boxes can withstand frosts down to -15 degrees.

Video about how to preserve potatoes until spring

Keep in mind that successful storage largely depends on the preliminary preparation of the tubers. They must be dried well (if possible, in the fresh air) for several hours or days to prevent rotting and the occurrence of potato diseases. In addition, the sorting of potatoes is of great importance: for long-term storage, well-dried medium-sized tubers, without flaws, are placed, and for the medium term, select the largest potatoes, since voids will form in them over time, due to which the taste will deteriorate.

How to make a potato storage box on a loggia or balcony

Tubers are better preserved on a glassed-in balcony than in a warm pantry, where they quickly begin to sprout. However, you need to constantly monitor the temperature so as not to miss severe frosts. The optimal storage of potatoes on the balcony is at a temperature from 0 to +7 degrees.

Successful storage largely depends on the preliminary preparation of tubers

Potatoes should be folded into fabric bags and placed in containers or wooden boxes that are placed on racks. Leave a gap of about 15 cm between the wall and the boxes to ventilate the tubers.

Cellar, underground, cellar

Ideal storage conditions for potatoes: absence of sunlight and humidity, temperature from 0 to +2 degrees. The best place to meet these parameters is a dark, dry basement or cellar, where frost does not penetrate and the temperature is maintained at the same level.

The cellar should not receive sunlight, otherwise the tubers will begin to produce the toxic substance solanine

The traditional technology for storing potatoes in the basement is as follows: the tubers are placed in bins in a layer of up to one and a half meters (air access must be provided to the lower layers) or in boxes with holes in the walls for ventilation. To prevent potatoes from rotting, place the boxes on stands at a height of 20 cm above the floor, and do not move the boxes close to the wall. The room must be ventilated; the walls and ceiling must first be whitened with lime milk with the addition of vitriol and well ventilated. The cellar should not receive sunlight, otherwise the tubers will begin to produce the toxic substance solanine.

Video about how to properly store potatoes at home

You will succeed significantly extend the shelf life of potatoes, taking into account the following recommendations:

• Place bags of sawdust or a layer of beets on top of the tubers - root vegetables and hygroscopic materials will absorb excess moisture;
• It is better to store different varieties of potatoes separately;
• To prevent water from dripping from the ceiling onto winter supplies, install a suspended ceiling made of polyethylene over the potatoes;
• the constant storage temperature of potatoes is very important, an increase of even a couple of degrees (up to +4) will provoke the appearance of sprouts on tubers in damp rooms, and in dry rooms it will lead to flabby potatoes;
• Before harvesting for storage, you should carefully sort through the potatoes, removing all damaged and frozen tubers, otherwise most of the supplies may rot;
• to protect stocks from rot, you can lay layers of potatoes (or place them next to them) with leaves of rowan, wormwood, fern, or elderberry.

Digging a hole or how to store potatoes in the garden in winter

For some owners of private houses, the cellar may be too damp, which means that it is impossible to properly store potatoes in it in winter. In this case, you can dig a special hole in the garden, where the entire potato crop will overwinter.

Determine the driest high place where the groundwater runs deep enough. Dig a hole about two meters in diameter and up to one and a half meters deep, and arrange grooves around it to drain rainwater. The walls of the pit and the bottom must be lined with straw. Pour the potatoes into the hole so that about 40-60 cm remains to its edges. Cover the tubers on top with dry straw or boards and cover them with a 10-centimeter layer of soil to begin with, and with the onset of frost, add soil to a thickness of 40-80 cm. Layer the ground above the pit should rise about half a meter. For ventilation, provide an air duct reaching to the bottom of the pit, in the form of a plastic pipe or made of boards.

Determine the driest high place where groundwater runs deep enough

Now you know how to store potatoes correctly, all that remains is to choose the most suitable method and prepare the tubers properly for long-term storage.

It’s a shame when you grew high-quality potatoes, put them away for storage, and they spoiled before they even reached winter.

Why does this happen and how to avoid it? We will try to figure this out in this article. You will learn all the intricacies of organizing potato storage at home, and will be able to preserve your supplies throughout the winter.

Harvesting

When should you harvest potatoes to save for future use?

Landmark – dry tops

The tubers themselves, which can already be eaten and stored, begin to form when the lower part of the tops begins to dry. It ripens for about a month. By this time, the tops completely dry out and die.

A couple of weeks before the start of harvesting, dry tops must be mowed, and the tubers themselves must be left in the ground to ripen. During this time, a seal in the form of a peel will appear on the potato and dry eyes will form.

Choose dry weather

Potatoes should be dug up in dry, sunny weather so that the crop can dry out in natural conditions, then it needs to be processed and further dried in the shade.

In the southern regions, potatoes have time to ripen in the ground under natural conditions, while in some other regions they are dug up, focusing on weather conditions.

The approximate harvest time for early varieties is from July to early August, for mid-ripening varieties - the second half of August, late-ripening varieties are harvested in late August - early September. It is important to harvest before the start of the autumn rains, otherwise the tubers will be saturated with excess moisture, which will reduce their shelf life.

How to prepare potatoes for storage

The potatoes you just dug up should be left in the sun for a few hours and allowed to dry thoroughly. This will eliminate some of the possible fungal and bacterial infections.

Tubers should be cleared of soil, sorted and classified into several groups: large ones for food, medium ones for planting, small ones for food for pets and birds.

Diseased potatoes should be rejected and destroyed immediately.

Selected tubers are treated with antifungal drugs, dried in the shade and placed in prepared storage containers.

To increase their shelf life, potatoes can be sprinkled with wood ash at the rate of 2-3 handfuls of ash per 20 kilograms of tubers.

To slow down the germination of potatoes, you can use folk remedies - add mint, rowan, spruce or pine branches to the planting; due to the phytoncides they contain, the period of “hibernation” is significantly extended.

Storage organization

Creating conditions

Temperature

It is important to maintain a storage temperature of +2 – + 4 degrees; at this temperature, potatoes remain dormant, do not germinate, and do not freeze.

When the temperature drops, the starch in the fruit turns into sugar, and when the temperature rises, roots begin to form.

Humidity

The air humidity in the storage should be no higher than 70-80%; higher humidity promotes the formation of mold.

The floor in the room where potatoes are stored should be covered with a layer of moisture-absorbing material, this could be sand, pebbles, or crushed stone. Floors made of cement, linoleum, slate, and floorboards should be avoided, as they do not allow moisture to pass through.

Lighting

Long-term lighting, both daylight and artificial, should be avoided in the storage area. This may contribute to the formation of toxic substances in the tubers.

The presence of poisonous corned beef in the tubers is indicated by the greening of the surface of the tubers.

Capacities

For a family, it is more convenient to store potatoes in relatively small containers of 10-12-15 kilograms; they should be placed on separate pallets and covered with protective material.

The storage must be isolated from mice, slugs and rats.

You must first carry out disinfection against fungal and bacterial infections.

Methods for storing potatoes in the cellar and basement

1. Bulk - potatoes are stored in one pile in the middle of the cellar.
2. Zakromny – potatoes are stored in bulk in bins.
3. Container - potatoes are stored in well-ventilated plastic or wooden containers.
4. In small boxes or bags.
5. On the shelves of the racks.

The first two methods do not require additional storage containers, this saves money.

But a significant disadvantage of this method is that the potatoes are stored in large volumes, which makes it difficult to check for the presence of damaged and diseased tubers, the potatoes are poorly ventilated, the lower layers do not receive enough oxygen, and the upper layers receive excess moisture.

If storing potatoes in boxes, it is important to ensure that they do not touch the floor or walls; the optimal distance is about 20-30 centimeters.

The disadvantages of this method are that boxes emptied of potatoes require additional storage space, and the boxes must be disinfected annually.

A good way to store potatoes on racks, as it provides good ventilation and easy inspection and selection of tubers, and the empty shelves can be used for other needs

If you are buying potatoes

In this case, please pay attention to the following points:

• Potatoes must be of the same variety
• Give preference to varieties with yellow flesh,
• Different varieties of potatoes should be stored separately.

Before storing, you need to dry the potatoes well in the open air for a couple of weeks, but avoid exposing the roots to direct sun, otherwise the tubers may turn green.

Store purchased potatoes in the same way as home-grown ones.

What mistakes do gardeners most often make when storing potatoes?

Error 1. Potato variety is not taken into account

Not all potato varieties tolerate long-term storage at home.

In mid-autumn it loses its taste as it begins to sprout or wither. For winter storage, it is better to give preference to mid-season or late-ripening varieties.

Mistake 2. Poor quality potatoes are preserved along with good specimens.

This can lead not only to damage to these low-quality specimens, but also to the rest of the harvest.

Preparing potatoes for storage should include:

• drying,
• clearing the earth
• selection of potatoes for quality,
• leaving only healthy and large specimens.

Mistake 3. Storing potatoes with other vegetables

Often, if there is no space in the cellar or underground, you can see a complete set of vegetables in one box - potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, etc. Which is not always good for the potatoes themselves and can lead to spoilage.

However, not all vegetables are so harmful; for example, beets, when stored in the same container with potatoes, collect excess moisture, preventing putrefactive processes from developing.

And a few apples in a container with potatoes can slow down their germination.

Mistake 4. They believe that potatoes can be stored in any conditions

Wherever the potato harvest is stored - in cellars, basements, in the apartments themselves and on balconies.

Basement or cellar

Potatoes are not preserved well everywhere. The ideal place would be, of course, a basement or cellar, but not everyone has them. But organizing storage on a balcony or in an apartment requires additional responsibility and care.

For storage it is necessary to create special containers, containers or boxes; they must be wooden.

Thermal box

Ideally, the container should consist of two boxes inserted into one another like a nesting doll, with a gap of 5 centimeters between them.

The empty space should be filled with sawdust or thick foam. On the outside, you also need to cover the container with an additional layer of protection, this can be linoleum, plastic, galvanized sheet, which will protect the supplies from possible moisture.

Thermal bag “Balcony cellar”

In addition to the container, storage can be organized in the so-called thermal container Balcony Cellar.

It is a double bag made of tent-type fabric, insulated from the inside with synthetic padding, and has electric heating that maintains a constant temperature in the region of plus one to plus seven degrees.

The cellar closes with a regular zipper, it is easy to store and wash. The volume of the cellar can vary depending on the modification from 100 to 300 liters.

Error 5. Potatoes in storage are not inspected

There is an opinion that this should not be done under any circumstances, as this additionally injures the tubers and allows sick specimens to interact with healthy ones. This is wrong.

Potatoes need to be sorted into storage. And it is needed just to remove diseased, decaying tubers. Not only the damaged tubers themselves should be removed, but also those nearby.

Potato diseases that may occur during storage

Late blight. It appears on the surface of the tubers as brown spots, then the spot becomes dry and rotten, and voids form under the wrinkled skin.

Infection can come from tubers that have soil residues on them or from tubers with mechanical damage to the surface.

Internal rot, this is a secondary disease that develops in damaged tubers.

Darkening of the tuber pulp occurs from a lack of nitrogen or potassium, by and large is not considered a disease; it can also be caused by changes in temperature.

Diseases most often occur initially on damaged tubers when storage conditions are not met.

Therefore, it is important to carefully inspect and select potatoes before storing them.

The harvested harvest serves as a source of pride for the gardener and inspires confidence in the future, but this result of many months of effort can easily be ruined if done incorrectly.

Let's figure out how to properly store potatoes.

Timing for harvesting potatoes for winter storage

As you know, they begin to dig up the crop already in June-July, but young tubers cannot stand it for a long time, since they have not yet acquired a thick enough peel. The timing of the final harvest of the “second bread” depends on the weather and on the specific variety, but usually around the beginning of autumn.

It is believed that you can dig when its tops dry out. Gardeners usually carry out control digging of tubers, and based on their condition, weather (it is better to dig on a fine day) and their own experience, they determine the harvest date.

Did you know? La Bonnotte is considered the most expensive in the world. This variety is grown on the small French island of Noirmoutier, located near the Atlantic coast. The cost of the local delicacy is approximately 500 euros per kilogram, the harvest size is no more than 100 tons. The tubers are very tender, taste sweet, have a nutty flavor, and have a lemon aroma.

Preparing potatoes for storage

Before laying on the harvested crop needs to be dried. If the days are clear and the garden is sandy, then the tubers can be dried directly in the garden, taking them to one place. The process will take several hours; the actual extraction from the sandy soil is already quite dry and clean.

Much more often they are dried under a canopy or inside some outbuilding - this guarantees protection of the crop from the vagaries of the weather. One or two days is enough for the adhering soil to fall off the tubers and for their skin to dry out.

Did you know? In tropical forests you can find the potato tree Solanum wrightii Benth, whose height reaches 15 meters. True, this plant does not have tubers.

After drying, they are placed in a dark room for a couple of weeks - in bulk (no more than a half-meter layer) or in bags. During this time, the skin of the potatoes will thicken, and in addition, they will appear. After this quarantine period, the tubers are sorted, removing both diseased and mechanically damaged specimens, after which the crop is ready to be stored in the winter.

Potato storage conditions

To store it correctly, it is very important to observe the temperature regime. The optimal temperature is +3-5°C, and the decisive factor is the stability of this temperature throughout the entire storage period. At higher temperatures, the tubers eventually germinate, take root and become unsuitable for consumption, and frozen potatoes taste sweet due to the formation of starch and sugar in them.

The storage room itself should be dark, insulated from, with a constant temperature and. The floor of the storage facility is covered with sand - it absorbs moisture well. Other moisture-absorbing flooring materials are also permitted. It is strictly not recommended to cover the bottom of the storage facility with linoleum, slate, or cement it- all this leads to the accumulation of moisture and the growth of fungus.

Important! Prolonged natural or artificial lighting leads to the formation of the toxic substance solanine in potato tubers. Outwardly, this manifests itself as greening of the tubers.

Types of storage in different storage facilities

Tubers are stored both in bulk, in a continuous layer, and in bags or boxes. It is much more convenient to store potatoes in containers than in bulk. If you decide to store potato tubers in boxes, then the boxes in the storage should be located so that air can circulate freely between them. The boxes can be installed to the entire height of the room. When storing in bags and in bulk, the height of the potato layer is set based on the size of the tubers, as well as taking into account ventilation conditions. poured to a height of up to 1.7 m, food grade up to 2.2 m. Load into storage carefully, trying not to damage the tubers, which can lead to further rotting and spoilage.

In the hole

This is a rather archaic way of storing crops, but, nevertheless, it is still quite often practiced, for example, in dachas. However, everyday access to potatoes stored in this way is quite difficult. Let's figure out how to store it in a hole.
The storage pit is equipped as follows: in the garden or in another convenient place you need to dig a hole about 2 m in diameter and 1.5 m in depth. The bottom of this pit should be covered with dry straw 30-40 cm, no more. Then this storage is filled with straw, but not to the top; you need to leave about 40 cm for the top layer of straw. After laying the top layer of straw, the pit is tightly covered with a board from above and covered with a layer of earth up to 80 cm. It is advisable to make ventilation holes in the pit, although this is not necessary.

On the balcony

If you have nowhere to store it except in your apartment, then a balcony is a suitable place for this, unless, of course, this balcony is glazed and closed. In this case, the tubers are best preserved in boxes.

Storage in a box offers two options: in the first case, you can use a standard wooden box for vegetables, in the second, they use a solid container in which the desired temperature is artificially created.

Storage in ordinary boxes does not require any additional devices or procedures. Just put it in boxes and cover it with rags on top. Such storage can easily withstand frosts down to -10°C. In a temperate climate and a closed balcony, potatoes can also be stored in bags, laying oilcloth under them so as not to spread dirt, and covering the bags with rags.
For harsher climates, the second option is preferable. This requires two boxes made of boards, plywood or clapboard. They should invest in each other like a nesting doll. The smaller box is used directly as a chamber for storing tubers. A larger box is used as a thermal insulation chamber.

There should be a gap of at least 5 centimeters between the walls and the bottom of the boxes, which is filled with foam. This container should be closed with an insulated lid. The outer part of this structure is covered with linoleum or any other moisture-resistant material, for example, plastic or galvanized iron.

And lastly: to maintain a constant temperature in the storage, two 15-25 Watt light bulbs are installed as heating elements. They are turned on only when it is very cold, and they should be darkened with something opaque. A similar container can also be installed on an open balcony.

It is believed that it is best to store potatoes - this method is known as one of the most effective. To prepare the cellar for receiving the harvest, you must first clear it of debris. It is advisable to disinfect the room by whitewashing it: two kilograms of slaked lime and 200 grams are added to ten liters of water, all this should be thoroughly mixed and the resulting solution should be used to whiten the walls and ceiling.

Important! If disinfection is not carried out, the stored crop may become a victim of the potato pest, the larvae of which infect the tubers. In addition, the risk of fungal diseases of potatoes will increase significantly.

After about a week, when the whitewash has completely dried, you need to check the hoods and fix any problems, if any. Next, a place for storing potatoes is arranged. These can be either racks for boxes, or shelves for bags that do not touch the floor and walls, or are made from bin boards. The sides of this structure should also not touch the floor and walls. There should be a gap between the boards to improve ventilation. The bottom should be sprinkled with sand or covered with straw.

In the basement

Potatoes are stored in the basement in almost the same way as in. For better preservation of the tubers, exactly the same whitewashing is required. But, since basement designs differ from those, you should monitor both the optimal humidity of 70-80% and the temperature of +3-5°C. It is also necessary to protect the stored crop from any light, because its prolonged exposure leads to the release of solanine in potato tubers, causing them to turn green.

Types of containers for storing potatoes

Harvested potatoes can be stored in bulk, but containers are often used for storage. The most famous type of container is a bag, regular or mesh. The latter type is preferable as it provides better ventilation.

Boxes, both wooden and plastic, are widely used for storage. Such boxes are usually designed for approximately 10 kg of potatoes. The wooden ones are made of planks; there are slots on the walls and bottom for better ventilation and visual control over the storage item. Plastic boxes have mesh walls and bottoms for the same purpose. Sometimes, if available in storage, boxes made of double metal mesh are used.
In addition to boxes, larger containers made from the same wooden planks are also used for storage. They can be rectangular or angular. Rectangular containers often have a door at the bottom for easy removal of potatoes stored there.

Modern technologies have not bypassed such a trivial area as potato storage. Currently, for these purposes, consumers are offered unique mini-cellars called thermal containers or thermal cabinets. Such devices operate from the mains and maintain a certain temperature, which the user can regulate.

The capacity of such a mini-cellar is usually 200-300 liters. They can be rigid and flexible, made of special fabric. Flexible ones are good because in the summer they are simply folded and put away out of sight until the fall.

Basic rules for storing potatoes

To guarantee the preservation of the potato harvest, you must adhere to certain rules. As stated above, harvested tubers must be dried and sorted, and storage must meet certain criteria. It is more practical to store tubers in containers of 10-15 kg, where for better preservation of the crop you can lay a layer (it will protect it from excessive moisture) on top of the potatoes. To slow down the germination of tubers, they add a few per box.

Thus, with proper preparation for storing the potatoes themselves, as well as using a suitable potato storage facility and following certain rules, the preservation of the harvest will be ensured.

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It’s not enough just to grow a rich harvest of good quality potatoes, you also need to be able to preserve them until spring. The issues of proper winter storage of potatoes have become especially relevant in recent years, when early-ripening potato varieties have become very popular among summer residents and owners of suburban land plots.

The fact that tubers of such varieties ripen much earlier than usual allows us to avoid many problems, in particular, late blight disease; however, early potatoes are not intended for long-term storage and very quickly become unusable. But how should it be stored?! And before we tell you on the pages of the website www.site how to properly store potatoes in the cellar in winter, we will first try to dispel a myth that has recently become very, very common.

There is an opinion that if you leave ripened potatoes in the ground until autumn, then, in addition to noticeably gaining weight, they will be stored much better. This is absolutely not true. Firstly, upon reaching maturity, potato tubers stop increasing in size, so you will not get an increase in yield in this way. Secondly, potatoes that ripen in the garden later become very susceptible to various rottenness; in other words, their shelf life is significantly reduced.

Mid-season and table varieties of potatoes, which are distinguished by yellow flesh and eyes on the surface, tolerate long-term storage best. From this point of view, the Adretta variety especially stands out among them. In addition to the fact that this variety is extremely productive (from 1 hundred square meters you can get up to 400 kg), under appropriate conditions it can be stored for a very long time without spoilage. What are these relevant conditions?

Proper preparation for storage begins long before harvest. Firstly, during the process of ripening tubers, care must be taken to protect them from late blight.

To do this, the tops are mowed down, through which infection occurs. The whole difficulty is that this must be done no later than the due date, but not earlier. The first sign is yellowing of the stems of potato bushes. As soon as this happens, you need to dig up the tubers regularly to assess the condition of the skin on them. It is believed that the tops can be mowed as soon as the peel becomes so dense that it cannot be torn off with a fingernail.

The mown tops must be removed from the site on the same day. You can often hear recommendations to save tops in the beds in order to cover potato piles with them after harvesting. Supposedly this is very good and reliable protection from rain. In fact, by doing this, you expose the grown crop to a serious risk of contracting various infections.

You should start digging up potatoes en masse 6-8 days after mowing the tops. As mentioned above, it is very important to remove the crop from the garden on time. Varieties with an average ripening period, such as Ardette, must be harvested no later than 100 days after the first shoots appear. The collected tubers must be carefully sorted and those damaged by disease must be removed from the total mass.

Then, the selected potatoes need to be dried, for which they are scattered in a thin layer in a dry place for 3-4 days.

Very often, the cause of rapid damage to the crop is not the potatoes themselves, but the cellar. You can store any vegetables, including potatoes, in the cellar only when they are properly prepared - dried and disinfected. To do this, all surfaces in it are treated in advance, in the summer, with a solution of copper sulfate with a concentration of 3-5%.

The temperature of the cellar is also of great importance for the preservation of potatoes. Potato tubers should be stored in it in winter at temperatures ranging from 2 to 4 degrees. It is at this temperature that potatoes do not sprout for a long time, and in addition, moisture does not evaporate from them, due to which they remain firm longer.

To ensure the desired temperature, it is recommended to pour the dried potatoes into the cellar early in the morning. At this time, the tubers are cold and this allows you not to disturb the existing temperature balance in the cellar. If autumn turns out to be warm, then you can use plastic bottles with ice to create the desired temperature in the cellar. The same method can be regularly used to cool the cellar in spring and summer when the weather is warm.

Do not forget that during long-term storage, tubers emit a certain amount of heat, as a result of which the temperature in the cellar may increase over time. Therefore, in order for potatoes to remain in the cellar for a long time, it must be constantly monitored.

For this purpose, two thermometers are used, located directly on the collar and at a level of 1.5 m relative to the floor. As soon as the temperature rises to 6 degrees, the cellar needs to be ventilated - the hole is kept open until the readings of both thermometers drop to 0 degrees. Usually, during the winter you have to repeat this procedure 3-4 times. As a result, potatoes are well preserved, which means they continue to be a source of nutrients for the human body.

Storing potatoes in the basement is the best option. On the balcony, vegetables can freeze, and there is not as much space there as in the cellar. Before planting potatoes, you will need to carry out preparatory procedures and create optimal conditions , which will help preserve the tubers until a new harvest appears.

Only healthy potatoes are selected for long-term storage.

If you don’t have your own plot and potatoes, you need to do this in late autumn (October, November).

At this time, late varieties suitable for long-term storage are collected and sold. If potatoes are grown on a personal plot, root crops with a medium and late ripening period are selected for storage in the cellar ( “Atlant”, “Asterix”, “Picasso”, “Crane”, “Vesnyanka” and etc.).

Before putting vegetables into the basement, they be sure to dry and sort out. Rotten and cut tubers are removed.

Optimal storage mode

What temperature and humidity should be in the basement so that the root crops do not rot, sprout or freeze?

It has been experimentally established that +2, +4 °C is considered a comfortable temperature for storing potatoes. If the temperature periodically drops to sub-zero levels, the tubers begin to freeze. These potatoes can be identified by taste. The tubers become sweetish, their structure changes, and they quickly deteriorate when defrosted.

If the cellar is too warm, the potatoes begin to shrink, releasing moisture, and sprouts appear.

In a warm cellar, potatoes sprout quickly.

Humidity also affects storage. The optimal humidity level is considered 80–85% . Dry air causes the tubers to dry out, spoiling not only the appearance, but also the taste of the potatoes.

High humidity is also dangerous. Dampness contributes to the appearance of potatoes, which begin to rot and deteriorate en masse.

Preparing the premises

The cellar must maintain a constant temperature regime.

If the storage conditions are observed, the potatoes are in a state of rest - they do not grow roots and do not freeze.

To avoid sudden changes in temperature, the room must be properly equipped. If the cellar is located separately from the living space, the risk of overheating is minimal. Falling snow helps maintain optimal temperatures.

When equipping the basement, you must adhere to the following recommendations :

How to get rid of fungus?

The storage room for potatoes must be periodically treated with mold and mildew agents. This is best done in the summer before harvest.

1. Before disinfection, it is necessary to empty the basement of vegetables, preparations, racks, boxes and other items.
2. Walls with mold are cleaned with a metal brush.
3. Wooden racks are dried in the open air.
4. Before using anti-fungal agents, close ventilation pipes and air ducts.

The working solution should be diluted in a plastic or enamel bucket.

Processing is carried out by the following means:

• Lime with copper sulfate . For 10 liters of water you will need 0.5 kg of lime and 50 g of copper sulfate. The walls are treated by spraying the resulting mixture.
• Formaldehyde and slaked lime . 200 g of formalin and 0.5 kg of lime are diluted in a bucket (10 l) of water. Treat the walls and ceiling 2 times with a break of 7–10 days.
• Chlorine-containing substances . Use bleach or any powder with chlorine. Whiteness is diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10. Add 2 tbsp. l. table salt. Carefully treat the walls, shelving and ceiling with the resulting solution and leave until completely dry.

When working with chemical compounds safety precautions must be followed. Hands are protected with rubber gloves, a scarf is thrown over the head, and a respirator is used to protect the respiratory tract.

After treatment, the cellar is thoroughly dried by opening the doors and hatches.

Sulfur dioxide vapor

Treating a room with sulfur dioxide vapor is considered very effective.

The fumes are dangerous for people and animals, so take precautions.

Selection of storage containers

Bulk storage is not the best way. Potatoes are more difficult to sort, and if this is not done, one diseased tuber can destroy a significant part of the crop.

Potato tubers are stored in various ways: in bulk, in wooden boxes, in airtight containers, in bags. What is the best way to store the harvest? It all depends on the size of the room, the number of vegetables and the availability of containers.

Boxes

1. Wooden boxes are made from boards and plywood.
2. The size of the structure is selected individually.
3. Please note that you will have to sort through the potatoes, so the height of the structure should not exceed 1 m.
4. Bricks are placed under the bottom of the box.
5. The inside of the structure is lined with natural burlap, sprinkled with shavings or straw. This allows you to protect the tubers from frost and excessive humidity.

Boxes should not be installed close to walls to avoid freezing.

Sealed boxes

Construction of a container for storing potatoes in cold rooms.

Such structures are necessary for storage in basements located under unheated rooms (for example, under a garage).

1. For good insulation of the crop, it is necessary to make two drawers of different sizes.
2. Sawdust or foam is placed at the bottom of a large container, then a smaller box lined with insulating materials is placed.
3. The lid for the box is also insulated with foam plastic.
4. After laying the potatoes, they are covered with a thick cloth and closed with a lid.
5. The box with tubers is periodically ventilated.

Natural burlap

Many people prefer to store potatoes in bags. It's really convenient.

Burlap allows air to pass through well, and if rot appears in one bag, it will not spread to the entire crop.

It is convenient to bring in and lift the harvest from underground. There is no need to construct wooden boxes, which then require additional treatment against mold and drying.

Bags must be made from natural materials , protecting tubers from moisture and freezing. Burlap allows air to pass through and therefore prevents rotting.

The bags are placed on a pallet covered with straw, boards or sawdust, vertically or horizontally. When positioned vertically, it is necessary to leave a small space between the bags. Lay no more than 5 bags on top of each other while lying down. Old blankets are used for insulation on top.

Potatoes are stored in nets, intended for use in the near future ( up to 1.5 months ).

It is convenient to transport potatoes in nets and store them for a short time.

Polyethylene

Polyethylene bags are not suitable for long-term storage.

In such containers, vegetables are easier to transport, but not to store.

Video about potato storage errors