Mistakes in Harvesting And Storing Carrots

The summer season is coming to an end, almost the entire crop is harvested and stored for winter storage in cellars and basements. It is at the stage of preparation of root crops for winter storage that many make a number of very serious mistakes, and vegetables extracted from the ground do not please the gardener for long. In this article, consider the common mistakes that allow gardeners when harvesting and storing carrots.

Errors at the cleaning stage

A good harvest of carrots is a balm for the heart of the gardener. But it often happens that some part of it is lost due to errors in cleaning.

Wrong time

It must be remembered that carrots must be removed from the ground before the first frost. Frozen vegetables will not be well stored. It is impossible to dig out carrots in rainy weather-root crops are strongly saturated with moisture. Let the soil dry thoroughly, and then proceed to cleaning.

On the other hand, dry soil is the main cause of fruit damage. If the days are dry, precipitation is not expected, the evening before harvesting carrot bed should be lightly watered with warm water. The soil will become softer and crumbly, which will greatly facilitate the digging process.

Harvesting with a shovel

First, try to simply remove the root, tightly holding the tops in your hand. If not, then in extreme cases, break the forks, which considerably reduces mechanical damage.

Bookmark storage just taken out of the ground roots

The extracted carrots should be spread out on burlap or polyethylene in a shaded place to dry and cool for a couple of hours. Sunny places to dry can not be chosen-the vegetable should cool, not warm.

During this time, you need to completely remove the tops (including the growth point), side roots and clumps of earth stuck. Tops, not cut immediately after digging, pulls the moisture from the root, and it withers. Side roots still continue to grow, they are full of moisture and nutritious juices, so they become an excellent place for the settlement of spores of pathogenic fungi. Before laying for storage, the vegetable should be cleaned, dried and cooled as much as possible.

Washing root vegetables

If the number of root crops is small, and you can definitely dry them well, then feel free to wash your crop. But if a lot of carrots, the drying process will take a lot of time and probably will not be very high quality. In this case, washing is not recommended. Enough to see the excavated root, cut off the tops, MITT erase shallow roots and to remove the earthen lumps. Doing all this, you are sure to identify unsuitable for long-term storage specimens and sort the entire crop.

Plastic film cover

Recently dug fruits are full of moisture, which when evaporated will form a condensate on the polyethylene. Carrots, covered with a film, not only will not dry out, but will become even wetter. As a result, the wet surface is more quickly affected by various types of rot.

Shelter cut tops

The removed deciduous part may contain spores of pathogenic fungi that have not yet managed to penetrate the fruit itself. Cover the harvest with straw and leave to dry. Straw will not prevent the evaporation of excess moisture from the root crop.

Bookmark storage damaged and affected by pests and diseases of the fruit

Carrots filled with juice can be very fragile, it breaks easily. Extracting it from the ground, quite often we injure the vegetable. In addition, excessive soil moisture also affects the appearance of carrots — it can crack along the entire length. These fruits are unsuitable for long-term storage, let them immediately for processing.

If the examination revealed specimens affected by carrot fly, and such fruits are laid for storage together with healthy products, then be sure, in 2-3 weeks most of the carrots will be infected with larvae. The entire crop is guaranteed to deteriorate.

Bookmark a vault without special processing

On the walls of the basement or cellar for the period of previous storage can settle pathogenic bacteria and fungal spores, which with increasing humidity in the room safely develop in the new crop. Walls, racks, boxes and pallets must be disinfected with sulfur sticks or formalin solution. Wall possible is treated with lime mortar. Particular attention is paid to ventilation.

Error when storing

Listing errors in the preparation of carrots for storage, it is necessary to say about his methods. Every housewife has her own — proven over the years, the best and most reliable. Someone keeps carrots in a warm cellar in boxes with sand, keeping the temperature in the room +10…+15°C. Someone lays roots in boxes with wet sand and stores at a temperature of +2…+5°C.

Many summer residents prefer to process the fruit in clay or chalk solution. Also carrots collected at the dacha and brought to the city apartment for storage, shift in polyethylene bags and place in the refrigerator. Some urban Housewives grind fresh carrots on a grater and so stored in freezers.

Any methods are good if they suit you, and there is no point in challenging them. However, the classic errors still need to be listed.

1. Cannot be use for storage last year’s sand, his better replace on a new. If this is not possible, it is advisable to dry the bulk material on a hot summer day in the scorching sun or in an oven. In the roasted sand, the fruits will be well and safely stored all winter.
2. It is not necessary to lay carrots for storage, if the clay or chalk solution on it is not completely dried up, and some of it crumbled during transportation. Such fruits need to be re-processed.
3. When stored in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf, you must regularly inspect and sort out the fruits, remove those that have begun to deteriorate. The optimum temperature is +2…+4°C.

Adhering to the basic rules of storage, as well as taking into account other people’s mistakes and failures, you can perfectly save your harvest of carrots. Dear readers, how do you store your roots? Share with us in the comments what ways are the best from your point of view.

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