Keeping Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes All Winter
Audio Brief
Show transcript
This episode covers the essential techniques for successfully curing and storing regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, alongside best practices for germinating crops under plastic tarps.
There are three key takeaways for growers looking to maximize crop longevity and germination success. First, regular potatoes and sweet potatoes require radically different temperature and humidity conditions to cure properly. Second, after curing, regular potatoes must be carefully sorted and stored based on their ultimate culinary use. Third, using plastic tarps for seed germination requires precise timing to prevent crop suffocation.
Regular potatoes need cool temperatures around 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 95 percent humidity for at least two weeks to heal their skin. In contrast, sweet potatoes require sauna-like conditions of 85 to 90 degrees with high humidity to convert starch to sugar. Small-scale growers can replicate this sweet potato environment using a warm closet with a space heater and open water pans.
Once cured, growers must sort through regular potatoes to discard damaged tubers before moving them to long-term storage. Storage temperature determines the final culinary quality, as colder refrigeration temperatures extend shelf life but turn starches into sugars. Consequently, potatoes intended for frying should be stored slightly warmer to maintain their starch profiles and prevent blackening.
Using plastic tarps to germinate cover crops and vegetables effectively traps heat and moisture but carries high risks. The tarp must be removed immediately at the first sign of sprouting to prevent seedlings from becoming leggy or suffocating. Removing the tarp in the evening is highly recommended so that delicate sprouts can acclimate to the air before facing the morning sun.
Mastering these precise storage and germination techniques allows growers to significantly extend their winter food supply and improve field crop establishment.
Episode Overview
- This episode of Growers Daily covers the essential techniques for successfully curing and storing both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, highlighting their very different storage requirements.
- Host Farmer Jesse breaks down the professional, large-scale approach to potato storage and translates it into realistic, small-scale methods for home gardeners and homesteaders.
- The episode addresses a Patreon listener's question about germinating cover crops and other seeds under plastic tarps, explaining the benefits and potential pitfalls of this technique.
- This guide is ideal for growers looking to extend the shelf life of their root crops through the winter and master the use of tarps for crop establishment.
Key Concepts
- Potato Curing vs. Sweet Potato Curing: Regular potatoes and sweet potatoes have completely opposite curing requirements. Potatoes require cool temperatures (50–55°F) and high humidity to cure, while sweet potatoes need hot, humid, sauna-like conditions (85–90°F) to convert starch into sugar and heal skin blemishes.
- The Role of Storage Temperatures: Regular potatoes are stored based on their ultimate use case. Potatoes kept at cooler refrigeration temperatures last the longest but convert starch to sugar, making them sweet and prone to turning black when fried. Potatoes for chips or fries are stored warmer to maintain starch levels.
- Tarping for Germination (Occultation risks): While plastic tarps are highly effective at trapping moisture and heat to speed up seed germination, they must be removed immediately upon sprout emergence. Leaving a tarp on even a few days too long will cause seedlings to become leggy, suffocate, and die due to the lack of light and airflow.
Quotes
- At 3:05 - "To cure, they would put the freshly harvested potatoes into a 50 to 55 degree... temperature area with high humidity around 95%... for about two weeks minimum." - This explains the critical initial phase of potato storage that heals wounds and toughens skins for long-term preservation.
- At 8:52 - "Sweet potatoes like to cure in conditions more closely related to a sauna... specifically temperatures around 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and very humid." - This highlights the stark contrast in curing requirements between regular potatoes and sweet potatoes.
- At 15:19 - "As soon as you see it sprouting, the tarp has to be removed... a little too late and the seedlings could be leggy, way too late... and the seedlings will suffocate and die." - Explaining the high-stakes timing required when using silage tarps or plastic to germinate field crops.
Takeaways
- Sort potatoes two weeks after harvest: To prevent rot from spreading, cure your potatoes first, and then sort through them two weeks later to remove any damaged or diseased tubers before placing them into long-term storage.
- Create a DIY sauna for sweet potatoes: On a small scale, cure sweet potatoes in a hot attic, a warm shed, or a closet with a space heater and pans of water to keep the humidity high for 10 to 14 days.
- Remove germination tarps in the evening: When using plastic tarps to germinate seeds like carrots, beets, or cover crops, pull the tarp off the evening before you expect germination. This allows the delicate new sprouts to acclimate to the ambient air and morning sun gradually, preventing heat shock and death.
