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This article will be useful to summer residents, as well as to those housewives who choose carrots for long-term winter storage in their own cellars. It turns out that not all varieties and hybrids are suitable for long-term storage. What methods are not used today to keep the harvest as long as possible! This is storage in sawdust, and knocking together special boxes, and disinfection, and drying carrots in the sun. All this is wrong and will not bring the proper result. Consider both varieties of carrots for long-term storage, and the conditions under which the crop will remain intact until the end of February.
Storing carrots in winter
There are varieties of carrots designed specifically to keep them longer. This parameter is called keeping quality by farmers. It is indicated on the package if the carrot is well stored. However, one keeping quality is not enough. In this case, there are several parameters at once, according to which anyone who wants to keep carrots longer needs to act. You will have to take into account:
- characteristics of the variety;
- storage rules;
- harvest date;
- weather in summer;
- ripeness of carrots.
Before moving on to a discussion of varieties that are ideal for this, let’s talk about storage rules.
It is impossible to store the entire crop without first sorting it out. There may be only one among carrots, but it will spoil all root crops, gradually infecting them. It is impossible to dry carrots in the sun; they are dried in the shade. The storage must also be cold. Optimal conditions:
- +2-4 degrees Celsius;
- humidity within 95%.
Root crops can be stored under certain conditions for a different amount of time. The table below demonstrates this well.
Storage conditions | Best before |
|---|---|
Vegetable compartment refrigerator | 1 to 3 months depending on variety |
Plastic containers, including bags | Up to 5 months |
Sand or sawdust boxes | Up to 6 months |
In chalk or clay “shirt” | Up to 12 months |
Varieties for long-term storage
If you need a variety that will keep for a long time, it is important to choose the right one. This is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The best varieties of carrots for storage for the winter are united by common parameters. They need to pay special attention to:
- ripening period;
- harvest date;
- carrot size.
Do not forget that the keeping quality of the variety alone is not enough; a combination of factors affects how carrots will be stored. For example, during a cold summer, a late-ripening variety with excellent keeping quality in terms of characteristics will not be stored for a long time, since it will not accumulate all the useful substances. Varieties of carrots for winter storage are presented below:
- “Forto”;
- “Valeria”;
- “Vita Longa”;
- “Moscow winter”;
- “Berlikum”;
- “Nuance”;
- “Queen of Autumn”;
- “Carlena”;
- “Flaccoro”;
- “Samson”;
- “Shantan”.
If you need to choose varieties of carrots for long-term storage, you need to pay attention to late-ripening and mid-ripening ones, but not to early ones.
We combine all the varieties listed above into a table and compare them in a number of parameters.
Comparative table of varieties
Here are collected some of the best varieties that will really keep well all winter, if the summer is warm enough, the growing and storage conditions are met, and the crop is carefully selected.
Variety/hybrid name | Ripening rate | Description of root crops | Vegetation period in days | Keeping quality, in months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Berlikum | Late-ripening | Cylindrical fruits of orange color with a high content of carotene | 150 | At least six or seven |
Valeria | Late-ripening | Tender carrots large conical shape | 110 – 135 | Шесть |
Vita Longa | The mid | Cone-shaped large root crops up to 30 centimeters, evenly colored, dense and tasty | 101 – 115 | Five six |
Karlena | Late-ripening | Small carrots are juicy with a large core, and also crispy | 150 | Six seven |
The Queen of Autumn | Late-ripening | Medium-sized, juicy and crispy, the taste is very sweet | 117 – 130 | Six on average |
Moscow winter | The mid | Medium conical shape not very sweet but juicy | 67 – 98 | Three four |
Nuance | Late-ripening | About 20 centimeters long, orange, cylindrical and very sweet | 112 – 116 | About seven |
Samson | Mid-late | Quite large, red-orange, 22 cm long, small core | 108 – 112 | About five |
Flaccoro | Late-ripening | Long, large with a delicate taste; conical shape with a high content of carotene | 120 – 140 | no more than seven |
Forto | Late-ripening | Large cylindrical carrot with a blunt tip and high palatability | 108 – 130 | Six seven |
Shantane | Mid-late | Sometimes it ripens very large, but of medium length (12-16 cm), the flesh is dense and sweet | 120 – 150 | No more than four |
Please note that most of the presented varieties are resistant to major diseases. It is this factor in late-ripening and mid-ripening varieties that is sometimes decisive in terms of storage duration.
You should also pay attention to resistance to:
- frost and low temperatures (carrot varieties “Queen of Autumn”, “Moscow Winter”);
- flamboyance (“Valeria”, “Moscow Winter”);
- cracking (“Vita Longa”, “Flaccoro”, “Chantane”).
The best varieties of carrots for storage for the winter are chosen in winter, the selection is made carefully. Gardeners should not forget that it is important not only to buy good seed, but also to properly grow carrots in their own beds. The selection process is described in great detail in the video below:
The process of growing root crops depends on how well the soil will be prepared, on the time of sowing the crop and on how good the care will be. Below we will present reviews of gardeners about varieties of carrots, which will describe the features of cultivation.
You should also not forget that during storage, carrots most often deteriorate when root crops are affected by various diseases. The farmers have foreseen this. There are varieties that are protected from such diseases. Let’s talk about this problem in more detail.
Carrot Storage Diseases
Root crops during storage can be affected by:
- viruses;
- bacteria;
- fungus.
Regardless of the region of cultivation and storage of carrots, it can be affected by black, gray and white rot, as well as phomosis (popularly – brown dry rot). The photo below shows the affected carrot.
During the entire period of growing carrots, the gardener has to deal with pests. In the process of storage, worries and troubles do not become less. One way to avoid this is to choose a variety that is resistant to one of the rots. The table below shows varieties resistant to various diseases.
Disease | Resistant varieties and hybrids |
|---|---|
Gray rot (cable), causative fungus Botrytis cinerea | no sustainable |
Phomosis (brown rot), the causative agent of Phoma destructiva | Moscow winter, Nantes 4, Bilbo hybrid |
White rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum | Vitamin, Grenada |
Black rot (alternariosis), pathogen Alternaria radicina M | Shantane, Nantes 4, Vita Longa, Champion hybrid, NIIOH 336 |
In addition, the crop is carefully sorted and storage conditions are observed. In the cellar or other place where the root crops will lie, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature and a high level of humidity. Temperature fluctuations are the first cause of carrot damage by fungi and diseases.
Reviews of summer residents
We have selected reviews of gardeners and summer residents about varieties that are not grown for processing, but for long-term storage.
Conclusion
Choosing varieties that will grow well and store for a long time is not so difficult. Pay special attention to late varieties and mid-season disease-resistant carrots.