Without proper storage conditions for carrots, she invariably faces rapid wilting. An undesirable moment that should be prevented is leaf sprouting. Another problem that must be taken into account when storing carrots for the winter is the susceptibility of this root crop to various diseases. The most common of them are black, gray, white and dry rot.
The causative agent of black rot - the alternaria mushroom - can be found in the remains of soil and plant organics. Gray rot affects the carrot tissue in the form of a fluffy coating on its surface. This disease spreads rapidly, passes from infected to healthy root crops, turning the storage of carrots into a real catastrophe.
White rot or the so-called sclerotinia is very dangerous. In addition to carrots, it can destroy many other vegetables in the storehouse, softening the root crops and covering them with white fluff, as well as mucus.
When damaged by dry rot - phomosis - carrots are covered with dark brown spots, while it remains dry.
Thus, the storage of carrots requires certain conditions, which should ensure the availability of whole, healthy, and, most importantly, healthy root crops throughout the year.
Preparing carrots for storage
Before sending carrots for storage, it should be sorted out, discarding frozen or mechanically damaged roots.
Tops need to be cut so that there are no capable of germinating buds. It is also recommended to trim the tips that are most vulnerable to disease.
You do not need to wash vegetables. After sorting, they are sprayed with a special solution or dusted with chalk. Then the carrots should be dried well in a shady place.
Carefully enough you need to prepare the storage, which before laying carrots must be cleaned of last year's garbage, dried well, whitened with lime and sprinkled with formalin.
When sending carrots for storage, it is important to consider its compatibility with other crops. For example, carrots do not tolerate neighborhood with apples that produce ethylene, which affects the taste of this root crop.
Methods for storing carrots
There are many options for storing carrots for the winter. In the cellars, it can withstand storage in ordinary bulk, but there are other ways.
In a private house, if there is no cellar, carrots can be stored in a caisson, which is easy to make from a metal barrel by digging it into the underfloor of the house. From above, the caisson should be tightly closed with a lid to protect vegetables from mice. The lid must be made with a small hole for ventilation of vegetables, and insulated with hay or other material on top.
It is very convenient to keep vegetables in boxes in the winter. To store carrots, you should take tight boxes with a capacity of not more than 20 kg. Filling with carrots, they are placed on a stand on a raised platform.
Storage of carrots at home is easiest to do with the help of plastic packaging, which creates the best mode for this root crop. You can buy ready-made bags, or you can weld them yourself with a food-grade polyethylene soldering iron. The optimal dimensions for such a bag would be about a meter in length and half a meter in width.
Carrot Interchange Options
Regardless of the chosen method of storing carrots, whether it be boxes or plastic bags, or just bulk in the cellar, it must be re-layered.
One of the most common methods is sanding. As a rule, carrots are stacked in pyramids up to a meter in height outward by heads. At the same time, root crops are sprinkled with raw sand, as it dries, it will need to be slightly moistened, wetting from above and from the sides. The layer of sand between the root crops should be at least a centimeter, so as not to allow them to touch each other. Also, sand is sprinkled with carrots in boxes and bags.
Claying is another common option for the separation and protection of root crops. Storage of carrots in this way gives the least waste. Root crops are dipped in a clay mortar for a few minutes and sour cream is allowed to dry. As a result, they create a kind of protective cover around them, preventing the carrots from fading and protecting it from diseases. In such peculiar covers, carrots are placed in baskets or boxes.
For the purpose of interlacing carrots, coniferous sawdust is also used. Turpentine contained in conifers has antiparasitic and disinfectant properties. Thus, carrots, sprinkled with sawdust of conifers, will be much less susceptible to various kinds of diseases.
In the end
Storage of carrots will be successful if you follow the basic requirements, namely, properly prepare the root crops themselves and a place for their wintering, be sure to lay the carrots and decide on the most convenient way to store it.