Potato storage

All truck farmers know that growing potatoes is still half the battle. It is also necessary to ensure all conditions under which the storage of potatoes will save the entire crop. After collecting the tubers they are cleaned of debris and earth and well dried. The premises in which potatoes are stored are disinfected with special solutions. The most commonly used solution is hydrated lime: it is prepared from 2.5 kg of quicklime, which is bred in 10 liters of water. It is also desirable to fumigate the premises with special checkers designed to combat pests and diseases.

The loss of crops depends to a large extent on the quality of the tubers. They must be absolutely healthy, undamaged, dry. Frozen, chopped, mold-damaged, decayed and sprouted tubers are not subject to storage. The technology of potato storage includes regular preventive examinations and disinfection. Warehouse and ventilation equipment should be in good order.

Potatoes are usually laid for long-term storage after harvest. Within two weeks after laying it passes a kind of "quarantine" period. At this time, the tubers are kept at a temperature of +12 to +18 ° C and high humidity of 85-90%. This leads to the healing of minor mechanical damage and strengthening of the tuber cover cloth. It should be borne in mind: the lower the temperature in the room, the longer the healing process will last. After this period, the temperature in the storage should be gradually reduced.

Storage of potatoes depends on many factors, among which we should especially note the air temperature, relative humidity, as well as the economic purpose of potatoes (table, seed, starch, chips). The storage process begins with the establishment of the optimum temperature and lasts until the moment of use or realization of the potato.

The storage temperature is set depending on the purpose of the potato. It can vary between +2 - +12 ° C. Also, the relative humidity has a huge impact on the safety of potatoes. Do not store it in excessive humidity. In such conditions, various diseases of tubers develop and losses increase. Potatoes are intensely germinating, which negatively affects the quality of products.

Reduced humidity also impairs the quality of the tubers, as they intensify their drying and deterioration of food and seed properties.

Storage of potatoes in a room is most often done in one of the following ways:

1. In bulk (the maximum heap height is 5 m).

2. In boxes (the most convenient way, allows to mechanize all processes on an industrial scale). Boxes are installed on pallets, which ensures free air circulation.

3. In containers.

4. In bags (the maximum height of storage - 5 m).

An important condition for preserving potato quality is active ventilation. The system of general exchange ventilation should ensure a normal supply of fresh air to the potato storage facility, as well as partial and complete recirculation of it in the room. Air exchange is carried out with the help of a ventilation system: in the first week of storage - every day, and in subsequent weeks - every 3 days.

How to store potatoes for ordinary cottagers? Truck farmers store potatoes in small cellars, cellars, burdocks or pits. To store the tubers in the basement or cellar they are covered in a wooden lid with a wooden pallets layer no more than 1 m or left in boxes.

In the absence of a special storage, potato tubers can be stored directly in the vegetable garden in prepared pits. To do this, dig a pit 2 meters deep at the highest elevation. Lay the tubers with a layer of up to 1 m, and top them with dry sand (10 cm). Above the sand, the pit is filled to the brim with earth. In the cold it is warmed with peat, sawdust, leaves.

For the shoulder use of small trenches or leveled areas. Trench seals (depth up to 0.5 m) are ditches filled with tubers. Favorable temperature conditions are maintained thanks to the heat coming from the ground and formed during the "breathing" of the tubers. Inside the throat, the temperature is regulated by changing the thickness of the warm shelter and the supply and exhaust ventilation. Burts are laid in dry weather in autumn. Suitable for them are dry, permeable soils. The site for potatoes is cleaned, and then disinfected with lime-pushonki. Burs are made in size 2 x 5 m and up to 1 m high.