Potatoes - the most popular culture in Russia. It grows in every garden, and with the arrival of autumn is removed in the cellar for long-term storage. But, unfortunately, it happens that the tubers of potatoes begin to turn black. The most common reason for this process is improper storage. Let's see why this happens and what to do if the seedlings managed to freeze.
Table of Contents
- Storage Issues
- Which Varieties Can Be Stored in Winter
- Desired Temperature and Humidity for Potatoes
- Why Do Potatoes Blacken Inside When Stored
- Why Does Blacken In Spring
- for
- culture, will the potato itself go away after freezing
- How to save
- after frost Causes that the potatoes in the garden froze
- What if the shoots and tops have managed to freeze
- I eat feed
- first steps if you hit the cold after landing
problems during storage
Even seemingly healthy vegetables can have black spots. Why this happens is often a secret. If this problem has spread to most of the crop, measures need to be taken urgently.
Which varieties can be stored in winter
There are about 380 varieties of potatoes. All differ in the color of the skin, the pulp, the taste, the size of the root, the ripening period. Choosing potatoes for long-term storage, you need to be guided by another indicator - its life-time .
The storage of potatoes is directly affected by the selected variety based on the ripening time. The most unsuitable variety is early ripe; such a vegetable is intended for eating in summer and at the beginning of autumn, a maximum. Varieties with medium and late ripening are suitable for long-term storage.
Early ripe potato varieties are not intended for long-term storage. When choosing a term, you need to look at the technical maturity of the root crop to reach 100-130 days .Such potatoes form a thick peel, copes well with diseases, contains a large amount of tannins.
Late varieties for long storage most suitable .They contain a large number of trace elements and without any problems will be kept until spring. Popular late varieties: "Picasso", "Zhuravinka", "Lorch", "Atlant", "Vesnyanka."
The desired temperature and air humidity for potatoes
Vegetables should be stored at +2 +6 degrees , and the humidity should be at the level of 80-90% .The most suitable storage room is a cellar or basement.
It is best to store potatoes in a cellar with a temperature of + 4 + 6 degrees Ventilation is desirable. At a temperature of 0-1 degrees, the potatoes do not rot, but become sweetish, and the flesh darkens. At a temperature of 7-12 degrees, the tubers begin to germinate, become soft, and spots on the pulp appear.
Why potatoes turn black inside when storing
Darkening can occur due to disease - gray spot .
The main causes of darkening:
- culture does not like fresh organic , as it releases excess nitrogen, which promotes the growth of fungi. This contributes to the darkening of the potato;
- at the inception of the root crop there is a shortage or excess of moisture;
- harvest harvested ahead of time, the pulp darkens in unripe potatoes. Overripe potatoes, during heat, may deteriorate when stored in an overheated room;
- If the harvest is done late during the frost period, the tubers may overheat, the pulp may darken. At a soil temperature of -2 degrees and frost, the tubers begin to rot;
- substandard transportation: shock, pressure;
- Incorrect storage conditions for a long period. Temperature is above or below 2-6 degrees;
- tubers contain a high percentage of starch;
- disease disease - black leg .It is transmitted through planting material, the disease and the blackness continue during storage.
Gray spot 
Black leg struck the tubers Why does blacken in spring
It happens that the vegetable has survived the winter well, and with the advent of spring it begins to turn black. The reason may be in poor ventilation .
Potatoes begin to grind with the advent of warming and sprout in the spring, the flesh darkens, it becomes sluggish and soft. There is a sharp temperature drop in the storage. Moisture is released and this again contributes to the debate.
What can and should be done so that the vegetable does not darken
Install pallets and move 20 cm away from walls. Due to this, you can avoid: wet and freeze.
During the winter period, it is recommended to sort the potatoes at least once and remove the sprouted tubers, soft, rotten. The harvest stored in the apartment on the balcony is recommended to be covered with a warm blanket.
After harvesting, you need for 20 days to leave the potatoes for ventilation in the open air. It is forbidden to store the root vegetable with other vegetables, except for beets.
After harvesting for 20 days, potatoes need to be ventilated in the open air. During the frost season
Sometimes it happens that the vegetable is frozen. It is not at all dangerous if the potato has not risen. But if sprouts appeared, the arrival of frosts can affect the quality of the future crop and beat it.
Is the
culture cold terrible? spring frosts are terrible for the crop .This is especially true of the regions of Siberia. Young potato sprouts are afraid of frost and are especially sensitive to spring frosts and any temperature from 0 and below can kill the crop.
Does the potato go away itself after freezing
If the young sprouts are frozen, this may affect the future harvest, although the potatoes will continue to grow with warming. Older plants are not very affected by cold.
Frozen young sprouts of potatoes How to save
after frosts If they promise frosts, you need to sprout the seedlings of the crop urgently, and freeze the ridges after the frosts.
To avoid freezing and give the potato a chance to survive if it managed to freeze, you can warm the vegetable by covering the planting with grass. Some gardeners plant fires from straw, shavings on the edges of arable land and thereby insulate the soil. To increase the smoke mass, it is recommended to drop mineral oils or coal tar into the fire. You can also cover the beds with film.
If the frosts have passed, and the vegetable has already managed to freeze, you need to allow the bushes to restore themselves independently. Damaged bushes are able to recover, albeit with great effort. To help the crop, you need to feed it with nitrogen fertilizers.
The reasons why the potatoes in the garden froze
If the air temperature dropped below zero degrees, or night frosts began in the spring, the potatoes begin to freeze and may freeze. This affects sprouts, they blacken and wither .In the future, even if the plants continue to grow and "move away", the fruit pulp may begin to turn black.
What to do if the shoots and tops managed to freeze
If the frosts started suddenly and the shoots froze, then you need to dim with the help of: newspapers, dark film, rags.
Thawing should occur gradually, cover sprouts. Than to feed
. Affected crop needs treatment with nitrogen, and also need to be fed: nitrophospage 5 oz.on 1 sq. m.
Also foliar top dressings with urea 20g per 10 liters of water are also useful. To frostbite tops came to life, you need to spray it " Epinom ."
If the frosts began when the harvest had faded, but it was not yet harvested, you can feed it with ashes or potash preparations. After the cold, digging potatoes is prohibited, you need to wait for warming.
Affected potatoes are treated with nitrogen. 
Frozen tops need to be treated with Appin. 
