From mid-August onwards, the potatoes in your own garden will be ripe. Depending on the variety, you can always lift fresh tubers out of the ground until autumn. Even if you only reserve a small area of the vegetable patch for the delicious potatoes, you usually end up with more than you can eat in a short time. If you store the potatoes correctly, they will stay fresh for many months.
How do you store potatoes correctly?
To store potatoes correctly: After harvesting, let the tubers dry for 24 hours, store in a frost-free, airy and dry cellar (4-8°C), store in a potato box or a large cardboard box with a lid without exposure to light. Apples should be kept away.
The potatoes must dry before storage
- Do not store the tubers directly on the day of harvest, but let them dry for at least 24 hours in a rain-protected, airy place.
- Leave any soil residue on the peel and never pre-wash the potatoes, as this will cause them to rot more quickly.
- Spread the potatoes loosely next to each other.
- Sort out tubers that were damaged during digging for direct consumption.
Store potatoes
Potatoes have a natural germination inhibition, which, however, wears off within five to nine weeks after harvest. It is therefore important that the temperature in the storage room is not too high.
- A frost-free, airy and dry basement room with a temperature between four and eight degrees is ideal.
- No frost should come to the potatoes. At temperatures below 4 degrees, the starch in the tubers begins to break down. If stored too cool, the potatoes change their aroma and taste sweet.
- Potatoes must be stored in a dark place. When exposed to light, toxic solanine is formed and the tubers turn green. Therefore, put them in a potato box or a large cardboard box with a lid.
Alternatively, you can store the potatoes in a pile of soil that you line with wire mesh to protect against mice. In addition, a thick layer of straw is recommended for thermal insulation.
Can potatoes be stored in the apartment?
Potatoes can also be stored in the apartment for a long time, provided there is an unheated room or a suitable pantry. It is important to store the potatoes in a dark and airy place.
Never put potatoes near apples. These give off the ripening gas ethylene, which causes the delicious tubers to spoil quickly.
Are potatoes with sprouts edible?
The tubers have often germinated for a long time by spring. Does not matter. Simply break off the shoots before washing and peeling the tubers.
Tip
You must not harvest potatoes that you want to store too early. After the above-ground parts of the plant have completely died, you should wait another two weeks before lifting the tubers out of the ground. During this time the skin strengthens and the potatoes become more resistant to rot.
