Potatoes are an integral part of the daily diet of many families. Today you can find a lot of recipes that use this vegetable. Moreover, for many, this product becomes essential in winter. Given this, potatoes are purchased and stored throughout the cold period.
Vegetables always require special treatment and, when it comes to potatoes, they have to tinker. Purchase of potatoes is made in the fall and keep it all winter - the whole science.
But what if you live in an apartment building and you do not have a cellar, a shed, and the like? In this case, there is an original solution - storing potatoes on the balcony. How to choose the right potatoes, prepare a place for wintering vegetables, try to understand this article.
General recommendations
The most important criterion for preserving the taste of potatoes throughout the winter storage is the correct choice of vegetables:
- Not suitable for selected purposes varieties of early potatoes.
- Potatoes should be dry. Humid potatoes are subject to rapid decay and premature germination.
- If the purchase of potatoes were found spoiled or crumpled, rotten tubers, then you should not take such a batch. The fact is that even one potato in a box can infect the entire stock.
- Peel thickness is critical. The thicker it is, the longer the shelf life of this batch, and the better all the taste qualities of the product will remain.
For storage is necessary:
- Shake the tubers off the ground.
- Dry crop. This is the most important stage of preparation. Wet vegetable is most susceptible to rotting. Drying is carried out on a warm day on a bedspread in direct sunlight. You can do this at home, dried root on the loggia or balcony. Excessive moisture should leave the entire surface of the root of the root.
- Sort the broken and unhealthy potatoes from whole. Healthy tubers are subject to storage, and those that are damaged can be hidden in the refrigerator and eaten shortly.
- Arrange in boxes and bags and place in a suitable storage location.
We select storage space
Loggia or balcony should preferably be glazed. At a minimum, there should be side walls. The following are the main criteria for storing potatoes on the balcony:
- Preservation of vegetables throughout the winter is possible at a temperature not exceeding the mark of 5-12 degrees and not falling below 3 Celsius.
- Humidity should be organized in the range of 30-45%.
- Vegetables should not be exposed to direct sunlight.
- Mandatory ventilation, or small air circulation.
- Protection against ingress of water.
- One of the most reliable ways to store tubers is a warmed box (about the rules for storing potatoes in the winter in a box, read here). It is made independently from scrap materials and old boards. You can buy ready. A prerequisite for the box is a double bottom, as well as walls, which are filled with insulation. You can use foam or cotton wool.
- Especially popular are used and unnecessary refrigerators. They are placed so that the door can be opened up. Such storage provides for the shelter of potatoes with a cloth to absorb condensed moisture, as well as regular ventilation.
- no peel in water;
- purified;
- raw, boiled and fried.
Open without heating
Storing potatoes on the balcony in winter is possible only at a temperature not lower than 3 ° Celsius. But what if it is not glazed? In this case, you should make and equip your own mini - cellar.
- Crates and Potatoes. Potatoes are poured into polypropylene or fabric bags and put in wooden boxes. From above cover with a heater (a mattress, a wadded blanket). As soon as the cold comes, and the air temperature drops to -14-17 °, the vegetables need to be moved to the home.
- Thermal cabinets. Ready-made models of cabinets are on sale that provide proper storage temperature and continuous ventilation. Such cellars are powered by electricity. Ideal for saving stocks.
- Flexible cellars. It is made of special fabric and looks like a huge backpack with a built-in temperature regulator.
The advantages of this type of equipment:
- Opens and closes with the installed zipper.
- The built-in temperature maintenance system is able to maintain the selected heat mode regardless of weather conditions from + 3 ° to -35 ° Celsius.
- Even if the electricity disappears, the smart mechanism will be able to keep the heating mode for several hours.
- Economical to use. Electricity consumption is no more than 30-45 watts per hour.
- You can store not only potatoes, but also other vegetables.
- Compact and does not take up much space. In case of not need, it is easily folded and placed in a special small-sized bag.
Errors
Potato lovers make one of the most common mistakes in storage, leaving the potatoes on the balcony not covered.
The lid of the box should always be closed, and in case of its absence, you can cover the potatoes with insulation (blanket or mattress).
With glazing
When the balcony is not heated by central heating, then to properly preserve the tubers during the cold season recommend to take care of additional heating of the storage chamber. Such storage is very simple:
- You will need two wooden boxes of different sizes.
- One is inserted into the other, the gap between them is filled with insulating materials - foam, foam, you can fill the voids with foam.
- On the bottom pour sawdust or rags. You can use chopped straw into small fractions. It keeps warm well and ensures proper air circulation in the chamber.
Quite it is economical to maintain the temperature of the chamber by fitting several low-watt lamps inside. Working for a couple of hours a day, they will provide the necessary temperature for storage, and even in the most severe frosts you will not have to worry about the safety of potatoes on the balcony.
Perfectly fit into the balcony without heating the old fridge. It is not necessary to warm it, and the cover can be turned into a padded stool for sitting.
The necessary conditions
The main error in the storage of potatoes on the balcony without heating can be identified untimely measures to insulate the box. To think about this, as a rule, they start only when the temperature outside the window has already dropped too much, and the potato has received the first frostbite.
Do not worry about excessive overheating when insulating the container. In any case, the temperature inside will not be able to quickly rise and harm the crop. Insulation is not made for heating, but in order to maintain heat.
At a constant temperature above 0 ° C
Many issues of storing vegetables immediately disappear at a constant plus temperature on the balcony or loggia. There is no need to bother with warming, ventilation can be arranged by opening the window for a while. The following are the most common ways to store potatoes on a warm balcony.
- Nets with potatoes - You can build a small vault from the usual wire mesh, pulling and securing it between the walls. The walls of such a niche covered with polypropylene cloth or burlap. You can fall asleep potatoes in this design. From above, you can build a cover, or just cover it with a cloth.
- Bagging - The most common method of storage in warm rooms, not requiring the construction of structures. Bags have sufficient airing properties and do not let in sunlight. Each bag can hold up to 30 kilograms of potatoes.
- Wooden boxes - A favorite way to store potatoes. They have a large capacity and compact to use. You can put in two rows one by one.
Important nuances
The temperature on the balcony should not exceed 17 degrees, otherwise the tubers will dry out and the potatoes will lose their taste.
A tightly closed balcony during the entire winter storage will be able to provoke the onset of tuber rot. Ventilation is a prerequisite for the proper preservation of potatoes. Humidity in a warm room should have a level of 45-50%.
How to save potatoes for a long time?
- The main condition for the successful and long storage of potatoes is the selection when buying and sorting after it. Healthy tubers are kept well and are not susceptible to drying or rot.
- Do not store the "second bread" in conjunction with other vegetables in the collection. The only ally of potatoes is beets. They can fall asleep in a box together. Beets have the ability to absorb excess moisture.
- Going through the tubers, do not allow the preservation of the stuck land to the potatoes. Such an omission can lead to the development of mold fungi.
Only high-quality potatoes can be stored for a long time, so you need to carefully approach the purchase and preparation of potatoes.
In detail about the secrets of storing potatoes in the winter in the cellar, we told here, and from this article you will learn about the conditions of detention should be in the vegetable store to avoid rotting and damage to the vegetable.
