Potato storage on the balcony is relevant for every Russian, because this vegetable is included in the daily diet in winter and summer. How to make a drawer for storing potatoes correctly, answers to all basic questions - in this article.
Harvest storage
Potatoes may well be stored at home
Why in modern housing it is customary to store potatoes in the winter at home? The surrounding networks of supermarkets offer a wide range of fresh vegetables, they necessarily include potatoes of several varieties.
However, in the conditions of industrial storage, the quality of potatoes leaves much to be desired - often frozen and fugged tubers, emitting the renclosure smell, offer customers at a fairly high price. Very often, potatoes are grown in their own sections and dachas, so the issue of storing the crop is becoming particularly acute, especially if the cellar is not equipped.
In urban development, it is possible to provide optimal conditions for potatoes in the winter period only on the balcony or in the loggia, where it is possible to maintain a certain temperature.
Basic requirements for winter warehouses of vegetables
Keep the harvest of vegetables in the winter period is necessary given all the necessary requirements so that the vegetables are not frozen into the cold, they did not start racing in the spring when the temperature starts steadily to rise.
Potato Storage Box Construction
List of basic requirements for the storage of vegetable products in winter:
- The crop of potatoes should be kept in place isolated from the cold. Tubers should not come into contact with cold walls and floors.
- Humidity in the repository should not exceed 40%.
- Providing the inflow of fresh air - without venting the storage sites of vegetables, it is impossible to guarantee high quality saved products. The influx of fresh air does not allow the tubers to rot and bother.
- For potatoes, it is very important that the tubers do not fall into the sunny or electric light, under the influence of which tubers are roaming, in them a substance is formed by a substance that has poisonous properties. If the potato box on the balcony is heated by incandescent lamps, the plaffones should be made with a dimming.
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Temperature
The insulation layer will save potatoes from damage
Of particular importance is the observance of the optimal temperature in the warehouse of vegetables. At what temperature to keep potatoes in winter preferably? The best temperature regime for storing potatoes should be from +2 to +7 degrees. Minor fluctuations in indicators do not harm vegetable tubers laid down. The yield of potatoes begins to deteriorate when the temperature is reduced below 0 ° C, and increase more + 10 ° C.
With a sharp one-time decrease in temperature (constant temperature differences), you can store potatoes in cardboard boxes or wood boxes, covered with warm blankets laid by sheet foam sheets.
Box for vegetables: how to make your own hands the right storage
How to store potatoes on the balcony in winter so that the tubers do not lose the whole supply of useful substances before spring? Possible option is the manufacture of a special storage of a similar cellar. Potato storage box on the balcony in winter (closed, insulated) must be performed according to certain sizes that are individual.
Homemade stalls will help keep the harvest throughout the winter
Made in size drawer for potatoes, is able to perform the role of storage for vegetables, as well as serve for a number of other purposes (place of rest; stand for overall things).
Potato storage is most appropriate to perform from environmentally friendly materials to which wooden boards include, thick plywood, lining.
For the manufacture of a drawer frame, a wooden bar is suitable, the insulation of the storage facility for vegetables produced by foam and thermal insulation film. When making a drawer for potatoes, it is important to provide a free space under the bottom wall, it is required to isolate the lower row of potatoes from contact with the concrete gender plate.
The design of the cabinet is provided depending on the conditions of a certain balcony or loggia - it can be outdoor, can be made with a vertical hanging on the wall.
The horizontal box can be covered with old blankets or something else, turning it into the right furniture.
How to store potatoes in an open balcony apartment? In this case, the box is manufactured similar to the previous model, but in order to preserve the tubers without frostbite, it is necessary to envisage heating the box with electrollamps in the strongest frosts.
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Look at the video how to build a storage box with your own hands.
Plastic boxes
Is it possible to store potatoes in conventional plastic boxes if the sizes of the balcony do not allow making a wooden container? This option is acceptable for closed balconies and loggias. When the storage device is for potatoes in plastic boxes, it is important to provide a wooden laying device with a heater, which is placed under the bottom of the lower container.Boxes are insulated with sheet foam, old blankets, cardboard, they fall asleep clean and dry potatoes - that's the answer to the question, how to store potatoes in plastic containers.
Good advice
How to save potatoes in fresh form to spring? During the winter, you should go through the tubers several times, not allowing downloading.
We recommend to watch a video telling about what errors should not be allowed when storing potatoes.
If the potatoes began to grow, it means in the box wet and warm, so it is worthwhile to the sprouts, to ventilate a container and check the quality of insulation. The extra layers of the insulation is to remove from the box, especially in the spring.