How do you store your potatoes?

[Veggiemama]

Hi everyone. I have not been on in a long long time.

My potatoes this year have been great.
I grew :-
Lady Christie
Home Guard
International Kidney
Bikini
Ulster Sceptre
British Queens
Maris Peer
Duke of York


I am hoping to store some for over the next few months.
I have never grown enough to store, but this year i have grown 20 seed potatoes of each of the above and have and am still harvesting about 28 - 30 lbs from each type.

So, can those of you that store your potatoes, please give me some advice on how to do it.
Your help is much appreciated.

[roitelet]

I leave them to dry on the shed floor for 24hours and then store them in paper feed sacks. They must be stored in the dark in something that won't make them sweat ie wood or paper.

[brownfingers]

Sex.
Tayty sex.
Hessian or paper.

[Thelma Sanders]

In cardboard boxes, in the lean-to - raised off the floor on a pallet so the bottoms don't get cold and damp from the floor.

[Veggiemama]

Thanks guys :-)
Would earwigs eat them? We have loads here. My sheds arent completely dark, so would i need to exclude the light in the area i will be keeping them, like blocking the window?

Thanks

[Hazel at the Hill]

It's easier to cover the cardboard box/hessian sack that to cover the window - just bung an old towel over the top. Paper sacks (ask at the greengrocers for their old potato sacks) will exclude light as long as you fold the tops over.

[teakdesk]

I let used MPC dry out and then store potatoes in buckets of that. Keeps them dry and dark.

[Penellype]

I grow my potatoes in bags and when the foliage has died down I bring them into the garage and let them dry out as they are. I harvest them one bag at a time as I need them and last year the Desiree lasted until nearly the end of January like this.

[Alison]

After I've cured mine and got them nice and dry I store them in hessian sacks in the garage. They need to be cool (but frost free), dry and in the dark.

[Veggiemama]

Thanks for all your input guys.

I have ordered some hessian sacks. But i have also got some now in the kitchen in a large pot with compost. I will be using these first and will see how they store.

Mr veggiemama is a bit overwhelmed but delighted at how many spuds we have :-)
I have to make sure they store properly or he might get a tad annoyed if they rot or anything else.
Thanks again.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm on sandy soil that doesn't ever get waterlogged or frozen, so I store my spuds in the ground where they grew, just digging them up as I need them.

[KevinM67]

I let any excess dirt dry out, then wipe it off by hand.

I wrap them individually in newspaper (I don't bother with smaller ones and usually try to use them first)

They all go into paper sacks and stored somewhere dark.

[Alison]

I let any excess dirt dry out, then wipe it off by hand.

I wrap them individually in newspaper (I don't bother with smaller ones and usually try to use them first)

They all go into paper sacks and stored somewhere dark.

I'm too lazy to do that, think it would take all day to do them all

[WPG]

I'm the same as TwoSheds, leave them in the ground and lift whenever needed. Even though my soil is clay-ish they keep just fine underground, apart from the Sarpo Mira which seem to attract slugs.

[chefgage]

I got some hessian sacks from the garden centre. I store them in a dark cupboard that is cool at the moment as the garage is like an oven. Later on I will transfer them to a dark cupboard in the garage when I can get past all the hanging onions that is!!!