Keeping potatoes

[OllieMartin]

Does it make a difference if you:
a) keep potatoes dirty
b) scrub potatoes before storing?

I keep mine in a wicker basket in the cupboard, but they never seem to last long enough for me to eat through a whole bag before they go off.

[rustylady]

Are they potatoes you've bought or ones you've grown? Also the variety will make a difference. If you're intending to keep potatoes you need to let them dry in the sun so the skins set, then rub off the worst of the dirt and store cool and dark. At the moment I'm just lifting mine one plant at a time as I need them cos I live on my own and don't use that many.

[Two_Sheds]

Try and pick a dry, sunny day to harvest your spuds and leave them on the path for a few hours to harden the skin.
This will help them store better.
If they are very dirty, rinse them in a bucket before hardening. You don't want them spotless, just get the thick mud off.

Store them in a paper bag, hessian sack or pillowcase, in the dark, perhaps with a slug pellet inside ... there may be lurkers in them there spuds that will ruin your crop.
Check inside the bag every month for rot and slugs.

[OllieMartin]

Wow, I never knew I should leave them in the sun! How have I been all over my gardening books and this forum and not heard that yet? Thanks.

Sadly I don't know the variety as they were grown from potatoes in my kitchen that sprouted, they've done pretty well considering.

[NOG]

Mine last till I eat them...at least till December. They need to be dry when you pack them and stored in the dry.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Try and pick a dry, sunny day to harvest your spuds and leave them on the path for a few hours to harden the skin.
This will help them store better.

Do not leave them in the sunlight too long or they will go GREEN and be inedible! I dig mine up, leave them for about an hour on the soil surface, then turn them over for another hour then bag them (or in a cardboard box) and take them home & put them in the garage - I was still eating my own spuds in February this year.

Check inside the bag every month for rot and slugs.

Good advice there - nothing worse than plunging your hand into the dark sack in the middle of winter and your fingers going into a gooey rotton spud! YUK!

[SarzWix]

I keep mine in shallow cardboard boxes in the garage. The shallow boxes make it easier to check them over. Another Grape I've read keeps them in discarded mushroom boxes (from the supermarket) with newspaper between layers of spuds.
Keeping them in a kitchen cupboard might be a bit too warm for them, they don't keep as long in the warm.

[OllieMartin]

Keeping them in a kitchen cupboard might be a bit too warm for them, they don't keep as long in the warm.

Hmmm, might be why my shop-bought ones don't last so long. I don't have a garage and I'm not sure how dry my garden shed is. Might try the cardboard box and newspaper idea in the shed, see how they fair.

[LilyRose]

I like the idea of cardboard boxes and newspaper -- that would save on buying hessian sacks, and be easier to check them over.

[Hilary B]

Our spuds this year were grown in tubs of compost. The compost we used has a peat-like texture (although sold as peat-free) and drainage is good. I am hoping to lift as needed, in spite of no longer having any 'tops' to them. If I had the space in the shed I would move the tubs in there, and hope to keep them a long time.
Washing is NOT going to help them keep, nor is being muddy. Get them as clean as you can by dry methods.
As everyone has said, the key to having spuds keep is cool, dry and dark. Airy is good as well (as long as it doesn't let the light in). If they are not touching each other (as in trays, separated by newspaper etc) so much the better.

[OllieMartin]

I have now lifeted 22lbs 8oz of potatoes and stored them in a newspaper-filled cardboard box under the stairs. I hope it's airy enough down there. Was thinking of putting the box in the cool-box so it ensures it stays cool and dry, but might this restrict the 'airyness'?

[NOG]

I leave mine out in the sun for a few days for the skins to harden. and to make sure they are properly dry.

[shirlthegirl43]

I lifted all my spuds (3 x 10 litre buckets full - haven't weighed them) yesterday. I left them in an old plastic shopping basket at the back door for them to harden off and forgot about them when it went dark I have woken this morning to grey skies and drizzle. Would I be right to think best I can do now is bring them into the kitchen to dry off?

[Hilary B]

I have now lifeted 22lbs 8oz of potatoes and stored them in a newspaper-filled cardboard box under the stairs. I hope it's airy enough down there. Was thinking of putting the box in the cool-box so it ensures it stays cool and dry, but might this restrict the 'airyness'?

I reckon they need the ventilation. Understairs should be OK (unless you have a damp problem, or it is uncommonly poorly ventilated), but a coolbox might not be.
Spuds are alive, therefore they give off a small amount of water vapour. If that can't get away, they are no longer stored dry, and that is where rot starts.