How to store potatoes in the same cellar with apples and is it possible to do so

Potatoes are our "second bread". Everyone who has even a small vegetable garden grows it, but not everyone knows how to preserve this wealth until the next harvest without loss. Therefore, we will tell you if it is possible keep in one cellar, potatoes and other vegetables and fruits (apples, carrots, etc.) and share some practical advice from experienced gardeners.

Can potatoes be stored next to vegetables or fruits

For better preservation of fruits and vegetables, observe the compatibility principle.

Consider the following important factors:

• store potatoes with vegetables and fruits that have the same skin thickness and shelf life;
• it is important that they do not release substances that accelerate the germination of potatoes, absorb excess moisture and do not deteriorate from its presence.

Do not store apples in the same room as potatoes, as they release ethylene, which promotes vigorous germination. This accelerates the ripening of tubers and contributes to the partial loss of nutrients. And the apples themselves become completely unappetizing, as they absorb the smell of potatoes, and their keeping quality deteriorates. Storing apples in a cellar with potatoes is possible if you put them in different boxes and put them away from each other.

It is also undesirable to store potatoes and carrots together. Its shell is more sensitive to surface damage and moisture changes.

Attention! To keep your potatoes healthy, select exceptionally healthy, ripe tubers.

Is there a difference - to store in the same room or box

Recent research by scientists has shown that it is much more efficient to store each crop in a separate container and arrange in such a way that they do not come into contact with each other. But in this case, there is a problem: you have to think about the release of volatile substances.

Among them there are useful ones that destroy the fungus and protect against rot, thereby prolonging the storage period of vegetables. These are phytoncides. If you add two upper layers of root crops that release these substances to a box with potatoes, the maturation period will increase significantly.

How to prepare a cellar for storing potatoes with apples

Check the room where the food will be stored for the following requirements:

1. Height - at least 2.2 m. With a lower ceiling, air humidity will increase and condensation will begin to form.
2. The cellar must be well ventilated. If there is no natural ventilation, install fans.
3. Indoor temperature - from 0 ° C to 6-8 ° C.
4. The room has been disinfected. Whitewash the walls with the following composition: for 1 kg of slaked lime, take 100 g of copper sulfate and dilute in 700 ml of water.

What crops can you store potatoes with?

Potatoes can be stored with horseradish, radish, beets, since they are identical in the type of peel and storage conditions. It is permissible, but undesirable to store turnips and carrots with potatoes, since their skin is thinner. Carrots are usually covered with wet sand, which is not suitable for potatoes.

Useful for potato tubers is the proximity of beets and radishes, which, due to their thick skin, have an increased keeping quality. Beetroot vegetables in the potato box will keep excess moisture and prevent rotting. And radish containing phytoncides will protect tubers from mold, fungus and pathogenic bacteria.Horseradish has similar properties.

Attention! Constantly monitor the humidity of the room and ventilate it, otherwise even the bactericidal properties of the stored products will not help.

What crops are prohibited

Do not store apples and other fruits that exude a sweet smell in the same room with potatoes. If there is no other way out, at least put boxes with these fruits away from the potatoes.

Also, due to the different requirements for the temperature regime, onions, cabbage, garlic, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes cannot be kept in the same room with potatoes.

What happens if you store these foods together

If you ignore the rules for storing potatoes with other vegetables, this will certainly lead to negative consequences:

• an unpleasant aftertaste will appear;
• the potatoes will sprout;
• the tubers will soften and rot.

Tips from experienced gardeners

Experienced gardeners, based on many years of experience, advise:

1. Before winter bookmark harvest the ripe crop necessarily in dry weather. After that, dry the vegetables (just not in the sun), sort out and treat with fungicides so that there is no fungus.
2. Potatoes sort, getting rid of damaged and diseased tubers.
3. It is better to first put it in a shed and keep it there until the air temperature drops to about + 5 ° C. Only then transfer the vegetable to the cellar or basement.
4. Potatoes are stored better if they are lined with onion skins or mint.
5. It will protect against rot by mixing tubers with dried bitter wormwood or common willow.
6. Potatoes last much longer with ginger root.
7. If you sprinkle the potatoes with crushed garlic, they will not rot. For 1 ton of potatoes - 1 kg of garlic.
8. Tubers will be better preserved if boxes put a fern or elderberry.

Conclusion

The issue of proper storage of vegetables and fruits is no less important than the issue of growing them. If you neglect the rules for storing tubers, all the painstaking work will be wasted.

Use the advice of experienced gardeners and you will avoid unnecessary crop losses.