What is the best way to store potatoes?

Question

We have a bumper potato crop.

Considering that we want to keep them as long as possible because we can’t use them all in a short time, what’s best for storage?

Answer 1

Potatoes last best when stored in a cool, dry place between 45°F/7°C and 55°F/13°C, so a basement is often your best shot if you have one. Keeping them dry and giving them airflow is important so they don't grow mold, a wooden crate with gaps, a box with air holes or a cloth sack are good options.

Also, you need to keep them dark, exposure to sunlight can lead to them turning green, which produces Solanine that is toxic.

Answer 2

You can store root vegetables, such as potatoes in damp sand in a cool, dry area. I have stored them this way in a broken freezer and they have kept fresh for over 3 months.

It is important to use clean sand. Sand for children's sandpits works well.

1. Harvest your potatoes on a sunny day and leave them in the sun to let their skins harden.
2. In a box put a layer of damp sand about 8-10cm / 3-4 inches deep
3. Place your potatoes on the sand, leave plenty of space in-between
4. Cover your potatoes with more sand, making sure there is at least 8cm/3inches of sand on top.
5. Store in a well insulated area (an old freezer works well)
6. Check the potatoes every 2 weeks for signs of rot or sprouting (indicating your sand is too wet) or signs of shrivelling or rubbery-ness (indicating your sand is too dry)

References:

• https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/storing-root-crops-in-sand.htm
• https://www.farmersalmanac.com/root-vegetables-sand-storage-35710

Answer 3

Traditionally, a root cellar. Deep underground with cool, but non-freezing temperatures and ventilation. Dark (very important with potato storage that they be kept in the dark, so they don't turn green and poisonous.)

In an old house, that might be a corner of the basement. In most modern houses, the basement (if there is one at all) is far too warm to be effective/useful storage. If you happen to live in a place where you have a storm cellar, that's more likely to be the sort of cellar that can also serve as a root cellar - but that's also mostly older houses.

Some people do build a dedicated root cellar. That may be more of a project than you want to tackle. A smaller "storage pit" (or barrel) is easier to build, but more of a pain to use, and often not deep enough for truly effective temperature control.

Answer 4

Leave them in the ground !

I left some in the ground last year until planting time this year, and then dug them up, and they were perfectly edible.

This was in the North of England, where we had cold, wet and snow over winter.

Answer 5

We would dig a trench about 8 inches deep, line with barley straw, pile the potatoes in, eventually forming a ridge above the trench (the trench was only to contain the width of the ridge). The ridge was covered in straw and then with clay.

I don't recall plastic featuring.