Potato storing tips?

[April Manier]

So we just harvested our Yellow Fins and our Rose Fin potatoes. What we need are your tried and true ways of storing potatoes.

How do we clean them up?
What do we store them in?
what temp?
How deep?

Thanks so much!!!! We had some rot last year so we are hoping to avoid as much of that as possible.

 

[Carol Dee]

DH just dug up the last 5 gallon bucket today. I was hoping someone would chime in with tips! I need help, too.

 

[lighthawk]

I have never grown or stored white potatoes. I did however grow sweet potatoes last year. I admit I canned most of them but those that I didn't can I stored on a screen rack in a small bedroom on the north side of the house. That particular room is the coolest room in the house through the summer so it also serves as wine storage.
I just washed the potatoes under running water and scrubbed them with a stiff brush. I did not use soap.
I'm not sure about white potatoes but the sweet variety needs a "curing period" so they were dried in a warm sunny location for about ten days prior to putting them in the storage rack.
The temperature in there varies depending on the season but the room is always dark and the door closed to moderate the temp fluctuations.
By spring all that remained were still usable and there were only one or two that were begining to show sprouting.
Hope someone else will chime in. Good luck

 

[momofdrew]

I have seen somewhere to take a 5 gallon bucket and drill a lot of holes in sides and bottom then let the dirt dry on the potatoes rub some of it off and place the potatoes in bucket and cover put in a cool dark place and they should store weeks...it will also work for apples, beets, carrots, turnip, and such

 

[cityfarmer]

We have left ours on our garage floor for a couple of days to dry off. Then we brush off the dirt with our hands, and place in large dark pillow cases, and put in our basement which is our coolest room in our house. They store well and those that do sprout work great for potato starters in the spring.

 

[thistlebloom]

Well April, I'm not a potato storage expert, but basically they need dark, temperature about 50* f ,and 80% humidity.

Knowing all that , I store mine in bins (rubbermaid type) that I line with rigid foam insulation and store in our uninsulated garage which does freeze when it gets down around zero.
We eat so many I've never had to store them much past January, and I do go through and check for rot when I collect a weeks worth for kitchen storage. This has worked well for me, but someday I'm hoping for a root cellar of some sort.
Speaking of root cellars, a good book on the subject is Mike and Nancy Bubels "Root Cellaring".

Oh, and to clean them, just brush the major dirt off them. Some people wash them but you're really not supposed to get them wet. And deep wise... they do generate a bit of heat so don't pile them too deep. my bins are a few feet deep and that seems fine. Bushel baskets would be great if you have a cellar or something that's cool, dark, and doesn't freeze.

 

[April Manier]

Thanks everyone. i'm seeing a common thread here that seems easy enough to follow.

I'll let you know how it goes!