Winter will show how conscientiously the gardener prepared for storing the harvest.
Those lucky enough to have a cellar mostly store potatoes in it. Everything will be fine if the tubers don't start to rot.
Anastasia Kovrizhnykh , an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", an agronomist and landscape designer, explained why potatoes rot and how to save the harvest.
Why do potatoes rot?
1. Most often, summer residents bring pathogens into the cellar with a poor-quality harvest.
One rotting tuber can infect nearby ones. It is not difficult to imagine the scale of the problem.
2. Often vegetables start to rot due to mistakes made during harvesting. For example, harvesting in the rain or simply in damp weather.
3. If you don’t sort the harvest before storing it, problems will not be long in coming.
4. In addition, it is necessary to observe the harvesting time. The longer mature potatoes are in the ground, the greater the chance of infection or damage by pests.
5. It is essential to treat the cellar before winter, and also maintain the appropriate temperature and humidity in the storage area, which means providing ventilation.
How to save the harvest
First, you need to immediately sort out the remaining tubers. All rotten and damaged vegetables should be thrown away.
Secondly, check the humidity level in the cellar. Lime helps in this regard, which is left in a bucket in the cellar and periodically changed after it gets wet.
Thirdly, before storing potatoes, they need to be treated with chalk, ash, or the preparations Fitosporin or Antigland.
Copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture are used for the same purpose.
Containers for storing vegetables are subject to treatment. They are disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
