Potatoes - Storage Novices Like me should read this!

[RAREBREDCHICK]

Hi there all, Thought it was only fair to pass on what I have discovered about my spuds:

I dug them a little early as the leaves were yellowing and I was worried about blight. Well I had a very satisfactory crop, considering the slugs had been nibbling some and a (very) few seemed to have blight. I got rid of the blighted ones and washed all the rest. Dried them and used the slug damaged ones first.

When I was sure the pots were clean and completely dry I stored them in a dark coloured cotton bag.

When I went to the bag yesterday I found that quite a few of them were "off" and I have now noticed that the ones I had saved for next planting are also sucumbing.

The moral of this tale is that other novice gardeners might make the same error?! So check your stored spuds are OK. Do it now!

[Chantal]

I'm no novice but I'll be checked mine asap

[John]

Hello Rarebreedchick
I wonder if washing the pots had anything to do with your problem? The skins are easily damaged on freshly dug pots. I just dig mine up on a warm sunny day and leave them to dry off for a few hours before bagging up.

John

[oldherbaceous]

I'm with John, i always leave them to dry off if the sun for a couple of hours.
But on checking them this morning, i must admit there were a few blighted ones in there.

So thanks for the warning our clever Rarebredchick, from a complete novice.

[alan refail]

Another vote from me for drying off and storing dry (dirty if needs be)

Alan

[Geoff]

I store dry and dirty in paper sacks, about 20Kg in a sack. Stick my nose in from time to time and if I don't like the smell tip them on the garage floor and sort them again.

[Granny]

I store mine dirty but rub loose soil off. Store in wine boxes as they stack easily, with newspaper in between to keep out the last traqes of light.

I do wash them, however, if they've been touching ones that have gone off in the box, and if there are more than a couple of diseased ones I get a new box.
----------------
Granny

[Monika]

Below is a post which I posted some time ago in the "Harvesting" slot but you might find it useful:

We have kept our potatoes for many years very successfully in cardboard boxes and find they are much easier to sort, if rotten ones have to be removed. We get lots of the SHALLOW fruit boxes from the supermarket and line them with newspaper, then half fill them with potatoes and cover them with newspapers and write the variety on the side. These boxes are then piled up, often in two piles of six or seven boxes each, usually the early ones at the top, to be used first, and kept in the unheated garage. Every so often we go through all the boxes and throw out any baddies which is no problem because you can see any trouble straight away.

By the way, we always wash the potatoes and then dry them off in the open, turning them several times, before they go into the boxes.

[Mike Vogel]

I wash ours too. I have access to many cardboard boxes in which photocopying paper was stored, so i get lots of these whenever I need them. Easy to keep varieties separate and under the stairs they don't get too hot or too cold in winter. It is easy to get the boxes out and check the spuds and by Jan / Feb they are usually going a bit soft, so we then have a big mash or chip-in.

mike

[alan refail]

I have started threads on blight “resistance” (?) in potatoes and tomatoes on the “Technical Data” Forum.

viewtopic.php?t=4292 - potatoes

viewtopic.php?t=4293 - tomatoes

Please let’s hear of your (good) experiences there, in the hope that we all learn something for next year.

Alan

[Chantal]

Having spent the past week going through my sacked potatoes, I have found that the blight is spreading rapidly. A week ago I was chucking out around 1 potato in 20, now I'm having to bin around 1 potato in 6. I've peeled and cooked so many my hands hurt but there's masses more to deal with.

[seedling]

To put the record straight she did send me home with a bag full yesterday just so she had less to peel and 2 courgettes
Bless
Seedling

[Chantal]

Just you be grateful there was only TWO courgettes young Seedling. What's more, if we're putting records straight, they were YOUR flippin' courgettes in the first place! I was just good enough to pick them before they became marrows.

If you would like some more spuds, please do pop round; oh, and bring a spud peeler with you please

[CradleyMike]

The potatoes that have gone off, possibly had slight damage when put into storage, perhaps even blight, any damage will quickly go from one to another if stored in a sack. We check our stored potatoes regularly often taking them all from one container to another. This comes from bitter experience from a few years ago.

[Doctor Deb]

Lots of my pots. have got slug holes in, and plenty had blight. Ive thrown loads away, but will only end up with a few pounds if I only keep the absolutely perfect ones.Is there any point in keeping the not too badly damaged ones and using them up first, or is that completely silly and asking for trouble? Any merit in "grading" them by degree of damage and storing them separately, to see if I can avoid contaminating the best ones!?! I've got a feeling I know the answer, but am hoping in vain I can keep as many as possible, as the blight and slugs got more than I did.