How to store carrots for the winter is a very important issue if we want to enjoy our harvest for a long time. By reading this article, you will learn where to store carrots better - at home or in the cellar, which carrot varieties are suitable for storage, when to harvest carrots for storage and what to do to best prepare carrots for storage.
How to store carrots for the winter. At home or in the basement?
Carrots belong to the group of persistent vegetables that can be safely stored for a long period of time. Of course, on condition that duringstoring carrotsall the required standards for temperature and air humidity are complied with.
Rules for growing carrots for storage
The quality of storage is most influenced by the correct cultivation of carrots. Withstoring carrotsin mind, you should grow late varieties that are best suited for this purpose. Such varieties of carrots are, for example, Perfekcja, Koral, Nord, Bercoro, Vita Longa, Flacoro, and Berjo. The seeds are usually sown in May.
Note! When growing carrots intended for storage, it is very important not to exceed the recommended doses of fertilizer, as excess nitrogen can significantly reduce the storage stability of carrot roots.
Carrot harvest date for storage
The harvest period for carrots is also very important for proper storage. Carrots can be harvested at different stages of maturity.Roots are best kept, but not too oldThis stage of maturity is recognized when the green above-ground part starts to turn slightly brown.
Carrots that you want to store for a long time should be harvested in the first half of OctoberThe weather at the time of harvesting is also very important. In warm and sunny weather, there is a risk of overdrying the harvested roots. In turn, from very wet soil we would take out dirty, muddy and wet carrots, and thus exposed to fungi and molds. Therefore,carrots are best harvested on a cooler, rainless but cloudy day , when the ground is slightly damp (but not wet). From such soil we will take relatively clean carrots, which will keep their qualities for a long time.
Only he althy, shapely, undamaged and not wilted roots are suitable for storage.Harvested carrots should be moved to the storage room as soon as possibleto prevent them from drying out.
Carrot storage conditions for the winter
Where to store carrots - at home or in the cellar?
In amateur growing conditions, when we wonderhow to store carrots for the winter , we usually have a choice of home or cellar storage. It should be remembered here that the storage room should be frost-free, but the best temperature is only slightly above 0 ° C. For best storage, carrots require a temperature of 0-2 ° C and high air humidity (95-98%). We are not able to create such conditions at home, especially in winter due to heating and problems with low humidity. Thereforestore carrots for the wintershould rather be in the basement or other utility rooms suitable for this.
The house forstoring carrotsis also not suitable due to the presence of ethylene from ripening fruits, which has a very bad effect on stored carrots. It can even be said that even trace amounts of ethylene deteriorate the quality of the stored carrots and make the carrots bitter.Therefore, if you are wonderinghow to store carrots for the winter , the first thing you should do is to remove any potential sources of ethylene from the place where the carrot will be stored. Therefore, under no circumstances should carrots be kept in the same room as fruit. A lot of ethylene is released, for example, by rotting apples.
1. Dig out the carrots for storage on a rainless day, but preferably cloudy
2. Twist or cut with a knife
3. Place the dug out vegetables in boxes
4. We store them in the basement in boxes with sand
How to store carrots for storage
In cellars or utility rooms, carrots intended for storage can be stored loosely in piles of about 1m width and similar height or in boxes with a capacity of about 20 kg. The top layer of carrots in piles or boxes can be covered with a layer of sand which is sprinkled with water to maintain adequate humidity.
How long can carrots be stored?
In amateur cultivation, while ensuring the above-mentioned storage conditions, carrots are usually stored for 3-4 months. If the vegetables are stored in box-pallets and the storage room is properly ventilated, the storage period may be extended up to 5 months. Even longer storage of carrots is possible only in specialized cold stores.
Katarzyna Matuszak
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