How to harvest and store main crop potatoes

How to harvest and store main crop potatoes?

The potatoes should be cut when they are about shoulder high. Leave the eyes on as they provide food for the developing plant. Take a sharp knife and cut through the potato. Be careful not to cut into the skin. Turn the potatoes over and continue cutting around the roots. Do not peel the potatoes. Just drop the cut potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Let the potatoes sit in the water for about 15 minutes to remove the excess starch. Strain the potatoes and rinse off any remaining

How to harvest main crop potatoes Colorado?

Before you start harvesting potatoes make sure you have a bucket of water beside the potatoes, and remember to never allow the potatoes to dry out. The potatoes should be stored in a cool place where they can slowly respire. If the potatoes turn green or start to rot, that is a sign that they are starting to go bad.

How to store potatoes year round?

Determining if potatoes can be stored year-round depends on variety, growing conditions, and if they were treated with chemicals. Store potatoes in a cool, dark, dry location with 40 to 50 percent humidity. Use potatoes within a month after harvesting, once they begin to turn yellow.

How to harvest potatoes year round?

You can do potatoes year-round as long as you have a way to keep the potatoes from sprouting. If you’re not going to use seed potatoes, you can start harvesting potatoes as soon as the tops start to turn green. However, you can also start harvesting potatoes in the late summer when the plants flower. When harvesting potatoes from the ground, you’ll want to use a trowel or long-handled shovel to loosen the dirt so you can get to the potatoes

How to store potatoes for a year?

If you want to keep potatoes for a year, you can put potatoes in a cool, dark place (like a basement or a crawl space), in a dry area. Before storing potatoes, mound potatoes in a pile to ensure that they don’t clump together. Don’t store potatoes in the refrigerator or in plastic bags because potatoes can lose their moisture and turn green.