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Dissily Mordentroge
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Long Term Potato Storage

This year I’ve been blessed (?) with a huge potato harvest. The common method of storing in tea chests with staw is recommended but I haven’t found any specifics as to the range of temperatures required. As I have no access to a cellar I’m wondering if storing in an unheated room will work? Any hints greatly appreciated.

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Gary350
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Dissily Mordentroge wrote:
Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:12 pm
This year I’ve been blessed (?) with a huge potato harvest. The common method of storing in tea chests with staw is recommended but I haven’t found any specifics as to the range of temperatures required. As I have no access to a cellar I’m wondering if storing in an unheated room will work? Any hints greatly appreciated.
Potato growers online YouTube videos says they store potatoes in a cool DARK room 40°F with low humidity. 1 month before planting seed potatoes warm potatoes up to 72°F.

35 years ago I stored potatoes in a bedroom dark dresser drawer in the house, it worked good. Inspect potatoes every week if there are any rotted potatoes remove them. Potatoes go bad easier in the house at 72° than outside at 34°.

I saved about 70 ping pong ball size potatoes from my July 25th harvest in a dark cardboard box. I have no way to keep potatoes cool & dry in summer so I kept them in the house in a dark cardboard box at 72° until cold weather arrived. When weather got colder at night I moved the potato box outside in a dark storage room. Now that temperatures are below freezing every night I bring the box of potatoes inside the house all night then put them outside again soon as temperature warms up to 33°F next morning. So far so good it is 34° outside now & potato box is outside. Picture is my saved July 2020 seed potatoes. Potatoes are good no matter how ugly they look as long as they don't rot. This is a mix of mostly White potatoes with some red potatoes that will get planted 3 weeks before last frost. I will also plant about 20 plants in the house in Styrofoam cups 4 weeks before last frost.

What did you do different to get such a good harvest of potatoes this year?
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Dissily Mordentroge
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I have no idea what I did this year to get such a huge crop. The rabbit plague induced my neighbour to let me use his raised beds. His partner, who was the gardener departed the planet and he has no interest in gardening.
I have no idea how he beds were treated prior to me using them. I added sheep manure, a small amount of lime and trace elements and crossed my fingers. The next crops will be preceeded with a more scientific approach by having the soil professionally tested.
I want to store potoatoes mainly for eating, not as seed potatoes so need to avoid any hint of them turning green as green potatoes are toxic. It’s amazing how many people will eat green potatoes and then wonder why they feel sick.

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Gary350
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Dissily Mordentroge wrote:
Fri Feb 05, 2021 5:22 pm
I have no idea what I did this year to get such a huge crop. The rabbit plague induced my neighbour to let me use his raised beds. His partner, who was the gardener departed the planet and he has no interest in gardening.
I have no idea how he beds were treated prior to me using them. I added sheep manure, a small amount of lime and trace elements and crossed my fingers. The next crops will be preceeded with a more scientific approach by having the soil professionally tested.
I want to store potatoes mainly for eating, not as seed potatoes so need to avoid any hint of them turning green as green potatoes are toxic. It’s amazing how many people will eat green potatoes and then wonder why they feel sick.
About July 25th 2020 I harvested about 85 lbs of potatoes. I kept potatoes in the house in 5 gallon buckets. We ate them in, potato salad, stew, baked, soup, mashed, they were finally all gone about Jan 20 about 2 weeks ago. I did nothing special they stayed in 5 gallon buckets in the bedroom at 72° for 6 months. Never wash new potatoes with water. Look through the buckets about every 2 weeks to see if there are any bad potatoes that need to be thrown out. If you find a bad potato that got rotted juice on other potatoes wash the juice off of potatoes then eat them next time you eat potatoes. I only had my buckets about 2/3 full so heavy potatoes on top do not smash potatoes on bottom very bad. Sorting through potatoes every 2 weeks this reduces pressure points on the potatoes in the bottom of the bucket. Potato farms store potatoes in BIG 4'x4'x4' boxes that get dumped stirred around and put back into the same box every few weeks so I do the same thing to my 5 gallon buckets.

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applestar
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I haven’t been consistently successful growing potatoes, but we do eat a lot of them and we always buy untreated/organic potatoes ... and they do sprout easily in storage. So I’m not sure if there is a way to keep them from sprouting over a long time. My harvested and saved minitubers have generally sprouted by spring planting time. I have learned that for planting purposes, the thing to do is to keep the sprouted shoots trimmed to about 4 inches so they don’t get tangled up. (It’s also OK to plant the smallest tubers in small pots and grow and transplant (deep) at planting time for tomatoes.)

My understanding is that commercial potato crop is conventionally stored with toxic gases that kills or prevents sprouting, and last I heard, those toxic gasses takes 6 months to become inert (nontoxic). It’s been a while and I haven’t checked if this is still the widespread practice.

What seems to be common practice for long-term use of harvested potatoes is to process and preserve them in some way — pressure canning them or mashing and dehydrating (to be turned into mashed potatoes later) are two methods I’ve looked at. So far I haven’t actually tried these methods myself.

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Trimming potato shoots to keep them from tangling- why did I never think of that? Oh wait, I know why. They're in a closed bag or box in the workshop and I'm too lazy/forgetful to check on them systematically.

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Gary350
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Online potato research is different than what I found in the past. Potatoes use go get sprayed with a chemical that prevents them from sprouting but now all the information I find says, keep potatoes, cool, dry, dark, 40° to 50° to prevent them from sprouting. New potatoes have a natural enzyme that prevents they from sprouting for a while water will wash the enzyme away. Online videos show commercial potatoes growers keep 700 tons of potatoes in a well ventilated dark temperature controlled building potatoes do not sprout.

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Gary my 'offline experience' says potatoes kept in a cool dark place will sprout like mad when the time comes. I don't know how they decide the time has come; probably when it gets not-quite-so-cool.

(edit: I'm talking about my own stored spuds, not from grocery. Some grocery potatoes have refused to sprout until I gave up & ate them.)
Last edited by Vanisle_BC on Sat Feb 06, 2021 4:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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applestar
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So of course I got curious — did a quick search and found this page excerpted below. There is emphasis on harvest temperature and storage facility. It doesn’t mention any chemicals or gasses to prevent sprouting. Products related to storage referenced here seem to be 1) vine killing (prior to harvest ... This would be some kind of herbicide, so would they affect sprouting?) 2) desiccant 3) fungicide

Vegetable: Potato Harvest and Storage | UMass Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-she ... st-storage
Potatoes should be harvested at pulp temperatures that allow for successful storage. Allowable pulp temperatures will vary based on storage ventilation systems, varieties, availability of cooling air, and timeliness. If potatoes are harvested during hot weather (above 80F) and cool off slowly the likelihood of storage rot is increased. Potatoes destined for storages with refrigeration could be harvested warmer to a maximum of 62 to 65°F pulp temperature. Storages with no refrigeration should not be loaded with potatoes with a pulp temperature above 60°F. Potatoes newly loaded into storage will require fresh air, humidity, and temperature goals near 55°F during preconditioning. If pulp temperatures are higher than recom­mended it is more difficult to manage critical environmental conditions once in storage. Time your harvest when cooling air is available to promote open outside doors and 3 to 6 hours of fresh air per day. Questionable potato lots should be harvested closer to 55° F if they must be stored. For later harvests, avoid harvesting at temperatures lower than 45 degrees as this increases the occurrence of bruising.
Below is a list of guidelines that can be used during harvesting and storage to help prevent the spread of the diseases mentioned above and to maintain high quality potatoes:

Vine killing

Vine kill stops tuber growth at the desired maturity, stabilizes the tuber solids, and promotes skin set.
Mechanical or chemical methods or a combination of the two can be used to kill potato vines.
More than one application of a chemical desiccant may be required.
Vine killing permits easier digging and harvesting operations.

Disease management

Foliar diseases, especially late blight, are still a threat as vines begin to die or vine killing methods are implemented. These pathogens can spread to tubers and cause problems in storage if they are not controlled prior to harvest.
Application of a desiccant followed by a fungicide application a few days later is recommended instead of apply­ing the desiccant and fungicide at the same time. This way thorough coverage of the remaining plant material can be achieved.

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Gary350
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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:23 pm
Gary my 'offline experience' says potatoes kept in a cool dark place will sprout like mad when the time comes. I don't know how they decide the time has come; probably when it gets not-quite-so-cool.

(edit: I'm talking about my own stored spuds, not from grocery. Some grocery potatoes have refused to sprout until I gave up & ate them.)
Your are right potatoes have a built in clock when they decide it is time to sprout nothing will stop them. When I was a kid Grandmother & Mom kept potatoes in the refrigerator to keep them from sprouting for a while. Grandfather put 200 lbs of potatoes in the cellar. About mid April potatoes started to sprout so Grandfather make potato cutting then we planted them about May 15. Hey that reminds me of something, it was 75° to 80° in Illinois then maybe I should plant TN potatoes when it gets warmer not April 1st potatoes don't grow in cold soil until it warms up..

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Last week I was uptown and saw a bunch of cold crop veggie plants for sale. Included in my purchases was a sack of white (Russet?) seed potatoes. IDK when to plant them. Next week shows bad icy cold weather.

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Gary350
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TomatoNut95 wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:35 am
Last week I was uptown and saw a bunch of cold crop veggie plants for sale. Included in my purchases was a sack of white (Russet?) seed potatoes. IDK when to plant them. Next week shows bad icy cold weather.
Best time to plant potatoes is 2 weeks before last frost. Keep potatoes inside house 72° in the dark until sprouts are 2" long then make 1" size cuttings with 1 eye. After cuttings dry a few days they are ready to plant.

This year I am starting 10 cuttings inside the house in small pots to transplant. The other 90 cuttings will be plants in the garden.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:23 pm
Gary my 'offline experience' says potatoes kept in a cool dark place will sprout like mad when the time comes. I don't know how they decide the time has come; probably when it gets not-quite-so-cool.

(edit: I'm talking about my own stored spuds, not from grocery. Some grocery potatoes have refused to sprout until I gave up & ate them.)
Can’t recall where I read this but apparently pototoes sold commercially at supermarkets etc are treated with chemicals to prevent them sprouting in the warm, well lit retail environment. Exactly what the chemicals are or how toxic I don’t know. Anyone have the answer?

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Gary350
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Dissily Mordentroge wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:55 am
Vanisle_BC wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:23 pm
Gary my 'offline experience' says potatoes kept in a cool dark place will sprout like mad when the time comes. I don't know how they decide the time has come; probably when it gets not-quite-so-cool.

(edit: I'm talking about my own stored spuds, not from grocery. Some grocery potatoes have refused to sprout until I gave up & ate them.)
Can’t recall where I read this but apparently pototoes sold commercially at supermarkets etc are treated with chemicals to prevent them sprouting in the warm, well lit retail environment. Exactly what the chemicals are or how toxic I don’t know. Anyone have the answer?
Soak grocery store potatoes in a large pot of warm water for 24 hours this soaks out the chemicals that prevents them from sprouting. Remove from water & let them dry. Keep dry potatoes in a warm dark place they will start sprouting in about 3 weeks if their built in clock says it is time to grow. If you buy organic grocery store potatoes they have no chemicals & sprout easy. Be sure to grow potatoes that grow well in your geographical location. Idaho potatoes & Russet potatoes are the same potatoes they do not like hot TN 100°F summer weather unless I can get them started 1 month early inside house in pots to transplant outside. Red Pontiac potatoes & Kennebec potatoes do well in hot TN weather. We have a very short 6 week long spring after last frost it will be 95° in 6 weeks. Potato plants need low nitrogen fertilizer 5-20-20 and lots of water or irrigation. I have good luck growing winter potatoes planted in hills 1 month before first frost if potatoes will sprout.

About 25 yrs ago I planted a 25 ft row of Russet potatoes Oct 1st about 1 month before first frost then covered them with 8" of soil in a big hill. There was no above ground plants all winter & when spring came still no above ground plants so I dug them up May 15 they were in the way of growing other things, it was a surprise to found 28 lbs of new potatoes. LOL



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