Storing Potatoes

[rutters]

Could anyone tell me if it's possible to store potatoes until next year?

thanks

[Hazel at the Hill]

Yes.

Dig up the potatoes on a preferable dry and sunny day (haha!), leave for a couple of hours on the soil surface for the skins to harden.

Put aside any that you've put your fork through for immediate use, and store the rest in hessian or triple thickness sacks in the cool and dark. The garage is ideal.

You can buy hessian sacks if you have far too much money, or you can ask nicely at your local greengrocer or petshop for paper sacks.

They should store for some months.

[rutters]

Thank you very much.

[bluemoon]

Strong cardboard boxes will do the trick too if you have trouble getting hold of the sacks. Pop them in the shed and throw a blanket over the top. As long as they are kept cool, but frost free and out of the light they should store for some months.

[Two_Sheds]

You'll want to check on your spuds, probably weekly, for any rotting ones that if left, will spoil the whole lot.

[sewer rat]

You will need to watch the temperatures though. You should be okay over winter but if you store them much beyong March, they are gonna try and sprout, and unless you keep them chilled, you ain't gonna stop them.

[Sue]

Hi
I tried paper sacks last year but this year found some really well priced hessian sacks on ebay, so far they seem much healthier in these sacks. I've also planted six Sarpo Miro spuds in large tubs and I'm leaving them in their pots as long as possible so see if I can keep them in until the new year when I've found my stored potatoes start getting soft and shrively.
Sue

[Snadger]

'Clamping' worked well for me last year but I haven't got a big enough crop this year to bother.
I managed to store my Desiree potatoes right through til May!

Pile of straw on ground, add spuds, pile straw thickly around them, dig a trench around pile for drainage putting the soil on top of the straw making a mound. Pat it down and leave a small wisp of straw sticking out the top for to keep it aired.
Best done in an area of full sun or an area of dry soil under a tree canopy. Mine wasn't, and the moisture seemed to get through to the spuds by new year. No harm done though, so maybe thats the way it's supposed to work!