Potato storage

Potato storage conditions

How well potatoes will be stored in winter depends not only on the variety and storage conditions, but also on harvesting.

Harvest potatoes for storage begin after August 25th. Better in warm, dry weather (1) at an air temperature of 15 – 20 ° C. And it is important not to delay harvesting – if the soil temperature is below 7 ° C, the tubers will lose some of the nutrients and will be stored worse. The autumn heat is also detrimental to the crop: the potatoes will begin to give new shoots and babies, which means that they themselves will lose some of the nutrients.

It is better to dig potatoes with a pitchfork – you can cut the tubers with a shovel, which often happens, but you can’t put them in storage (2) – they will rot.

The tubers must be sorted immediately. Only healthy tubers are left for storage. Sick and injured – for food in the near future.

If the potato is covered with damp soil, it cannot be peeled immediately – the skin will be damaged, and the tubers will then rot. Therefore, they must first be dried, and not in the sun, as summer residents often do, but in the shade. And no more than 2 hours – otherwise they will turn green: they form the toxic substance solanine.

Dried tubers are carefully cleaned from the ground and poured into some cool, dry, dark room, for example, in a barn or bathhouse. There they should lie for about 2 weeks – during this time the tubers will finally dry out and completely ripen.

After drying in the barn, potatoes can be safely lowered into the cellar.

Potato storage temperature

The average optimum storage temperature for potatoes is 2-3 °C. However, it may differ for different varieties.

For example, varieties Berlichingen, Borodyansky pink, Priekulsky early, Falensky are best stored at a temperature of 1,5 – 2 ° C. Change, Ogonyok, Temp, Loshitsky, Domodedovsky – 2 – 3 ° С. Lorkh, Stolovy 19, Gatchinsky, Lyubimets, Petrovsky – 3 – 4 ° С.

If in severe frosts the temperature in the cellar suddenly begins to fall below the permissible values, the potatoes must be covered with straw, shavings, burlap or matting.

At what humidity should potatoes be stored

The optimum humidity for storing potato tubers is 92 – 95%.

At higher humidity, the top layer of tubers is usually covered with condensate. And after a while, the potatoes begin to rot.

Ventilation helps to get rid of high humidity in the cellar. If it is impossible to ventilate the cellar, then boxes with quicklime, salt or charcoal should be placed in it – these fillers absorb moisture well. The contents of the boxes must be changed periodically.

Another option to protect potatoes from excessive moisture is to pour beets on top of it in 2-3 layers – the moisture will settle on the root crops, and the tubers will remain dry. At the same time, moisture will not damage the beets – it is resistant to diseases.

Ways to store potatoes in the cellar

There are several options for storing potatoes in the cellar.

Bulk in the barrel

This is the easiest option – all the tubers are simply poured into the barrel. But there are nuances here:

• the bottom of the bottom of the barrel should not be deaf – small gaps are needed between the boards for air circulation;
• pour the tubers carefully so as not to damage the peel;
• the layer of tubers should be no more than 2 m.

Advantages of the method. Minimum labor and financial costs.

Minus the way. With this method of storage, there is a high probability that the tubers will deteriorate ahead of time: as soon as one rots inside the heap, the disease will begin to spread to all neighboring potatoes. And if you don’t track it in time, you can be left without stocks.

In the boxes

In this version, the potatoes are poured into separate slatted boxes (wooden or polyethylene). The boxes are stacked in such a way that there is a gap of 6 – 8 cm between them (3) for free air circulation.

Advantages of the method. With this method of storing potatoes in the cellar, you can pack more – the boxes can be stacked on top of each other in any quantity, even up to the ceiling.

In addition, it is easier to track damage to potatoes in boxes. But even if you don’t keep track, the risk of being left without supplies is minimal – even if all the potatoes rot in one of the boxes, they will remain healthy in others, because the tubers do not touch each other.

Minus the way. Boxes cost money – these are additional financial costs. And sorting the tubers into individual boxes takes more time. But the sheepskin is worth the candle.

Ways to store potatoes in an apartment

The best place to store potatoes in the apartment is the refrigerator. But, of course, you can’t put the whole crop from the garden there.

For a couple of months, potatoes can be stored on the balcony right in bags – in September and October it is cool there, the tubers are quite comfortable. If frosts are planned, the bags can be wrapped with old things – blankets, jackets, sweaters, etc. Or buy covering material for this purpose, for example, Spunbond-60 – they need to wrap the bags in 2 – 3 layers, this is quite enough.

On a glazed balcony, if the windows are closed tightly, the potatoes in bags can lie throughout November.

From the unglazed balcony with the onset of cold weather, the potatoes need to be transferred to the apartment – for another month and a half it can lie without problems in a dark, cool place: in the pantry, near the front or balcony door, in the closet under the sink in the kitchen.

If the potatoes begin to sprout during storage at home (and this happens often), add a couple of sprigs of dried mint to the bag – it will slow down the emergence of sprouts.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about storing potatoes with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Zharkov I.V. Tips for the gardener // St. Petersburg: Publishing house “A. V.K. – Timoshka, 2002 – 192 p.
2. Yakubovskaya L.D., Yakubovsky V.N., Rozhkova L.N. ABC of a summer resident // Minsk, OOO “Orakul”, OOO Lazurak, IPKA “Publicity”, 1994 – 415 p.
3. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.