How To Store Potatoes For The Winter

[@colinbryan8265]

My first year of growing potatoes 🥔 thanks for showing how to store them. I’ll probably get two boxful. Who knows, they might outlast me. I’m 87! And it keeps me occupied, instead of watching crappy television!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Definitely better than TV. Thanks - you are an inspiration to others!

[@colinbryan8265]

@@maritimegardening4887 Thankyou. Perhaps a little off gardening. I’m wondering if you’re a fan of Hank Snow? Another Nova Scotian. I spent 15 years in your beautiful country. Getting back to subject, I’m not only growing, but learning how to cook with them, via the internet.

[@2500hdx]

Still gardening?

[@judyrobertson5564]

I grow my own potatoes and you’re right they taste so good thank you for sharing. God bless you and your.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You are so welcome

[@robertcotrell9810]

This is my second year growing potatoes. Had some good success last year. A number of volunteers this year! I'm hoping to actually store some potatoes this year. I'm very excited!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Best of luck!

[@johncourtneidge]

Thank-you! Love to all 'Down Home'.

[@mariansnair972]

Thank you so much for the information, will definitely be doing this with my small harvest. I planted then in grow bags..soil on bottom and keep topping with straw.

[@elainebmack]

This winter will be my first time storing potatoes. I moved to Maine last year and had access to homegrown potatoes for the first time in many years, and never again will I buy store bought ones! Fortunately, I work at a farmers market where I can purchase organically raised potatoes, so I want to store a lot of them this fall. It looks really easy and economical to do so. Next year I'll try growing my own. Thanks for this straightforward information.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Hope it works out for you - I have a few more vids on this topic as well if you look around. Extra tips and such :)

[@LmaoMoni]

I grow potatoes from the store bought ones ._.

[@goodmorningcharlie1243]

Thank you this is the best information I found on the Internet

[@maritimegardening4887]

You are very welcome

[@mary5292]

Great video! Thank so much. Simple, direct, informative and btw, really great guitar music instead of some awful you hear sometimes. Thanks! from Colorado

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad you liked it!

[@garyjjohnson9021]

Cheers for video , I have quite a few to store after a great seasons harvest and wasn’t sure which was the best way to store them .

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad to help

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

Nice video "naybuh",,, I'm in Maine, and WISH MY garage would stay about 50°, lol. Here's a little trick you can use to find the coolest place in your house. If you have an indoor/outdoor thermometer, bring your outside sensor indoors and place it in a few different places, floor in a closet, under the bed, bottom drawer of a dresser, different rooms, bottom self of pantry. You may only find a place 5-10° cooler, but, coolest and darkest is best. Ooops, forgot, put the sensor in a bag or a box, like you would with your potato's, that way you'll get an accurate reading. Less ambient air flow across sensor that way. You can get a very accurate one for around $15.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good idea. My garage only stays that warm because it is attached to the house, and has a heater with the thermostat set to zero - so it kicks in if it ever gets near freezing.

[@Sagatta32]

Thaanks! I figure I would do smth similar.

[@billybob-lo6gr]

Thanks very much , this is our first year of growing a garden and will try this for sure will check out your other videos and see what info we can use for us here on the other side of the country.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad it was helpful!

[@billybob-lo6gr]

@@maritimegardening4887 Thank you very kindly I'm not on here to much hencethe reason for the long delay in a reply.

[@tatianacomeau7244]

Thank you so much for this, honestly. So very helpful. How can you store onions during winter? Is there a way to keep them as long?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I do the same thing with onions.

[@tatianacomeau7244]

@@maritimegardening4887 Ah had no idea onions could be stored in same way. Awesome. Thank you so much again! :)

[@gladysbone2286]

Great video. I am going to do it. Thanks.

[@mysticangel000]

So many garden or homesteading suggestions are completely are dependent on growing zone/location, that your clear general area mentioned is what lead me to click and quickly move to subscribe. Thanks.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome thanks!

[@alialrikabi5546]

Need to store potatoes fast, before we have lockdown because coronavirus. I wish I was farmer 😣

[@citylotgardening6171]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@cindyjean3208]

Thanks so much... this will be my first year of keeping my potatoes in my basement... excited to see how this works out... my garage gets too hot... and too cold... and I don’t have a cellar...

[@maritimegardening4887]

Best of luck!

[@mariansnair972]

And our cellar is to damp. Can't win.our home is.over 175 years old

[@nadinehope230]

Great video! I'm wondering if you can wrap potatoes in an old cotton bed sheet that's been cut up instead of the newspaper?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I've never tried that but it sound's like it will work.

[@kimberlyguimond4186]

I have already eaten all my potatoes. Next year I'm planting way more!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Boo hoo for you :) Good plan, and don't forget! I've still got 3 boxes left, but still I doubt that will be enough!

[@kimberlyguimond4186]

I think three boxes might get me thru the winter. Just found your channel this month and am enjoying going thru them. I too live in zone 5 so it helps me when I can watch others in similar zones. Thanks so much.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad to help!

[@VeganChiefWarrior]

i left mine on a hot sum blasted cement balcony till half way through summer in a fabric pot with an aprin over the top any it still worked lol a few rotted but they were probably no good to begin with

[@1nOnlyStaceyLynn]

We moved from Ontario to Northern BC and our soil here is impossible and the prices are sky high. Thank you so much for your video. I am terrible at gardening but desperate to learn. I am going to try and grow my own! Do you have a video that shows more in depth on how to grow the potatoes? I heard you say to plant and cover with mulch and just leave them. Does it matter when I plant them? So sorry for perhaps repetitive questioning.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes - lots of vids - just search "maritime gardening potatoes". You plant them when you can see the 1st dandelion flowers.

[@Navajosun]

Will they sprout? If so, can you still use them for cooking?

[@maritimegardening4887]

They usually start to sprout in March/April - depends on the variety of potato. Yes, you can still eat them if they sprout.

[@Navajosun]

@@maritimegardening4887 thank you so much for your reply.

[@RayH-]

Aren't temperatures above 10C at harvest for the next couple of months as winter approaches?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes. You have to get them somewhere cool

[@silasderoma4726]

Hi - thanks for sharing this. We're trying the Ruth Stout method and are having a lot of plants popping up! We are wondering if move can eat the potatoes under the hay. Do you have any pointers on this?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Sorry don't understand the question, "We are wondering if move can eat the potatoes under the hay" - please restate :)

[@silasderoma4726]

@@maritimegardening4887 sorry! If "mice" eat the potatoes under the hay....

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@silasderoma4726 Sometimes voles will get at them, but very few potatoes get damaged this way in my experience. I might lose a dozen potatoes at most a year to that, and I grow enough that we really don't need to buy potatoes.

[@silasderoma4726]

@@maritimegardening4887 thanks for that info! You inspired us to try growing potatoes and using the Ruth Stout method, so we're keeping our fingers crossed!

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@silasderoma4726 Awesome good luck !

[@TrailWright]

Why did u cut the bad spot from that one potato and then add it to the second batch? Is that ok? Thanks for sharing...

[@maritimegardening4887]

As long as there's enough airflow for it to dry out and scab over - it was totally fine when I got around to eating it months later.

[@2200chuck]

Hi Greg While you were packing your potatoes into the boxes for winter storage I noticed that there were a few that you cut a piece off and then put the potato into the box for storage. I didn't know you could do that. Won't it rot? Thanks - Chuck

[@maritimegardening4887]

They seemed to dry out and scab up. It worked out fine. As long as there is airflow, things seem to work out fine.

[@karenbrown9956]

Could you store onions and garlic this way for the winter? Thank you for sharing this video!

[@maritimegardening4887]

yes

[@natureboy6410]

Hey Greg. Yeah, I agree with ya. My father in law, and his brothers, are all from the Pacific Islands. mostly Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand. They grew, harvested and shipped tons of different types of root crops. T a l l o w, yoka, yam, sweet potato and regular potato. And I'm sure there was other things that I just don't recall the names to. Except they stored it a little different. They would still keep it in a covered cardboard box, but they would wrap each individual root vegetable and it's on piece of newspaper first. never seen anything go bad. Big or small didn't matter.

[@maritimegardening4887]

If I had to ship them, I'd definitely wrap each one to protect them. Man - I wish I could grow yoka/yucca/cassava here! Scratch that - I wish I was in any one of those beautiful countries!

[@joshuasiau9461]

In place of the news paper, could you put in a couple silica packets? Or would that dry the potatoes too much?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I don't know - it's not about keeping thing dry - it's about regulating humidity. The paper seems to maintain humidity properly - like in a humidor.

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

This is a good idea, this is the first year I have potatoes to store, still just a little bit, but I have them in a box on the floor in a cooler corner of the kitchen, the sweet potatoes are shrinking into dehydration, darn, and the purple potatoes are looking like they are just going to hang on for a tad bit longer than goodbye, ha, anyway, I am going to try to follow your suggest and box them up this week.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good luck, hope it works for you. Make sure they are dry!

[@maggiemccall7090]

Thank you.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You're welcome!

[@gypsiemomm]

I just moved so I don't have a harvest to store but my local gas station is selling local potatoes for 99¢ for 5#. So I'm going to store those.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good idea :)

[@katyacosta3911]

I grew potatoes for the first time this year and I just harvested them yesterday. I watched your video to find out how to store them. One thing I did before watching your video was I washed my potatoes. Should I not have done that?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I don't wash mine. They key is getting them dry, and to try to maintain the integrity of the skin - washing them can damage the skin, so there's a risk. Just get them good and dry, and check them regularly once they are in storage. Hope everything's ok :)

[@mildredwilkins5781]

Washing them is generally bad. As the other person said. I don't what you do now 😞 I had already sent him a note that he didn't mention that.. I'm 70 and grew up in Alabama raising hundreds of pounds of pototoes. We kept the perfectly good for up to 5 MO this or so by storing them, directly in the field, with a teepee kind of structure. The bottom of a 8ft circle was kinda hollowed out and then layered with pine straw. Then you put unwashed potatoes in in the tent, covered really really well with pine straw. Then covered with a plastic cover th keep out rain. Next we covered aLL that 2x4 leaning against it like a tepee. Last thing was to cover this whole tent with lots of dirt ( maybe 4-6 inches) This seems like a Lot of work, potatoes stored this way almost never had any damage. There were eventually 7 children and 2 parents. We had sweet potatoes in abundance from early frost, like maybe Nov this year until April or May the following year. To feed 9 people some potato dish several times a week and company on Sunday. To see what had been a Sweet potato patch which now has 8-10 hug eteepees filled with potatoes for the WInter was a wondrous thing to see. What I wouldn't give for pictures. BUT very few of our pitatoes

[@mildredwilkins5781]

Very few potatoes were ever bad unless someone got careless when you made a little " door" to get some out. You carefully moved away some dirt, pulled off straw over 1 l-2 board and eased potatoes out for this week. Then you replaced everything til you needed potatoes again. Being careless to let water in could ruin a huge amount or all the contents. That was too risky a chance for anyone but the adults to do. Growing up poor was rough but it wasn't bad. I'd choose then over now. Just saying........

[@veronalaws8420]

Can you store sweet potatoes the same way?

[@Shypwreck]

I live in a city with a major critter problem. Any ideas in how to safeguard potatoes from rats, etc. I can store in a carboard box, but then the rats and roaches will get to them. I put them in a sealed plastic container, then moisture will rot the potatoes. Any ideas?

[@maritimegardening4887]

There has to be airflow. A second fridge is ideal - but that only makes sense if you have a lot of things to store. Plastic container with card board box in it with holes in the top of the plastic container might be a good work around.

[@WakandaBabe]

That was my question. I have a cellar with dirt walls but I can't imagine a mouse or two won't get them.

[@mildredwilkins5781]

You did not mention. Not to wash them before storing.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I usually mention that but yes - do not wash!

[@RiverPlaid]

Great video 🌸

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks :)

[@springkaye8280]

I have heard that the scab on the potatoe can be helped by adding sulpher to the soil !!!!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes - if you acidify your soil by adding sulfur the risk of scab goes down - but then you've acidified your soil and are limited in what you can grow in that bed. My preference is to plant scab resistant varieties of potatoes - but to each his own of course :)

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

@@maritimegardening4887 Fixing acidic soil is as simple as an application of Lime, cheapest soil amendment on earth.

[@justingrant4860]

Maybe a stupid question forgive me but will store bought potatoes store and keep the same as the ones right out of a garden??

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good question and YES! Buy in bulk and use the same approach :)

[@justingrant4860]

@@maritimegardening4887 excellent !! .....thanks for the reply👍🏾

[@granmabern5283]

Only if store bought are organic and NOT washed. Industrial potatoes are irrigated AND washed. But they will store longer if you do ,the layerings.

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

I would also go through them all and only store the good ones. Any that are bruised, black spots, chunks missing will not store for long. Also, you can put them right back in the bag they came in if it's paper/mesh. If a reputable supplier, thats the way "they" store them until shipped for sale.

[@theotherme4120]

can you show CLOSE UP SHOTS of a potato bruise? thanks!

[@maritimegardening4887]

I'll try to remember that next time - anyway - it's just a damaged or soft spot.

[@IsaacNewton1966]

I just throw mine in a 5gal bucket and put them in the furnace room. I don't clean them of too good. Just a fine layer of dirt on some of them.

[@justingrant4860]

How long do they store for??

[@IsaacNewton1966]

@@justingrant4860 until next season mostly. But at the end they start to sprout quite a bit. By then I use them for seed.

[@theotherme4120]

if you store the on floor of garage... will MICE or BUGS eat through cardboard to eat the potatoes?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I guess that would depend how much mice and bugs you have in your garage. I don't have any - so I have no problems.

[@veronalaws8420]

How do you store pumpkins and squash?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Same idea but they need to be kept colder to 10c, and I don't put them in boxes. I just have them on shleves in my garage. They do not keep as long so they need to be used up by Jan/feb/mar depending on the variety

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

One can actually plant potatoes in the fall and they'll grow next spring. Plant your seed potatoes while you are harvesting. Plant 6" deep or under 6" of mulch. It'll work down to zone 5 I know, don't know about lower zones.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I've tried that under mulch and had very mixed results, and I'm in zone 6. I think the problem here is that we don't get a consistent snow cover here. It can get to -20c in the winter, but it can also rain the very next day, and all the snow can melt, and then it can be -20c again the next week - so I think it's just too wet and cold here for the potatoes, because it seems that about 9 of every ten just rot.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

IC. when I harvest potatoes, the ones I miss always grow the next year. this fall is the first time I am trying it deliberately. my mulch is composted wood chips so that helps too.

[@carolparrish194]

Let us know how that works for you. What zone are you in ?

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I am in zone 5a. there could be several factors in achieving success. any potatoes I miss when harvesting always grow the next year. but yeah, the amount of ground water, snow cover, etc. could effect quality. we'll see come spring wither it works.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I think if I had good consistent snow cover it might work. I do get "volunteers" every year, but as I said, when I've planted them deliberately is been 90% fail.

[@paullemay3218]

Thank you for sharing this. Do you grow sweet potatoes?🇨🇦😎

[@maritimegardening4887]

NO sorry - it's just no hot enough or sunny enough to grow them here. There are some places in this province where it is possible, but not here unfortunately

[@paullemay3218]

Maritime Gardening thank you for your reply. I live in Bracebridge Ontario. I may try next year. 🇨🇦😎

[@albedo0.392]

Shredded paper could be good

[@alanross2876]

What is the temperature of your garage in the winter?

[@maritimegardening4887]

It ranges from about 2c to 5c. There's a heater in there with the thermostat set to 0c in case it drops below zero. The garage is attached to the house, so with the exception of the coldest days of the year - the heater never kicks in.

[@ikbalkhan5279]

Hello how are you what are the types of fruits and vegetable can be grown in Nova Scotia

[@maritimegardening4887]

That would be a long list. I would read up on zone 6 growing zone fruits and veg, bearing in mind that we have a fairly short growing season here - last frost is typically late May, 1st frost is typically late September.

[@chriswood7737]

I noticed you mentioned not to put any in with blemishes or holes but you cut a portion off one and put it in the second box. Wouldn't that cause issues? Thanks and keep doing what you've been doing. The videos and podcasts are awesome. Thanks.

[@maritimegardening4887]

There's enough air in the box that it will scab over. I don't recommend doing that a lot, but you can get away with doing it to a couple potatoes. There was a tiny hole on that one, so I wanted to make sure there was nothing living in there.

[@maritimegardening4887]

There's enough air in the box for a couple cut potatoes to scab over - at least that's been my experience. That one had a tiny hole and I cut it back to make sure there was nothing living in there. Thanks for the props man, always good to hear :)

[@wiseoleowl5154]

In your second box I saw you slice something off of one potato. Wouldn’t that one root in the box?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I sliced off a damaged part so it could scab over and heal. Stored perfectly fine. Slicing potatoes does not make them put out roots.

[@natureboy6410]

@@maritimegardening4887 can cause rot

[@smhollanshead]

A rule of thumb for seed potatoes: the seed potato must be bigger than a golf ball and smaller than a tennis ball. Eat the rest!

[@maritimegardening4887]

That's a good rule!

[@izellamcqueen4583]

Never heard of drying out potatoes. Light turns then green.

[@maritimegardening4887]

It doesn't turn them green instantly - it takes day - so a couple hours of sun is no big deal. You're just lowering the moisture level of the skin for good storage.

[@faithsrvtrip8768]

@@maritimegardening4887 : Thank you! The stems are dead on my resin whiskey barrels planted with yukon gold and detroit red and I am scrambling to figure out how to store them. I was able to get some bags of straw at a local farm store. There is an Irish guy that grows potatoes, commercially, in plastic barrels. I put 4 chitted seed potatoes in each 22-inch resin whiskey barrel that had lots of whole drilled in the bottom. These were much lighter than the wood type! Can't wait to see what I dig up!

[@Brokenandsilencedrec]

That has to be the loudest newspaper ever.

[@theotherme4120]

the perfect ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE food

[@vojka2973]

yo I'm not sure how much the paper is good, I heared that it has alluminiom which they say is cancerous :S ?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Why one earth would paper producers put aluminum, which is expensive and completely unnecessary for the production of paper, into paper? I would review your sources.

[@vojka2973]

@@maritimegardening4887 I think it must be the ink that they write on the paper but I'm not sure, I will check it

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@vojka2973 Ink is soy based usually. Really, I don't worry about these things too much. Nine of the worlds countries currently have 13,865 nuclear warheads - so every day's a bit of a crap shoot. I'm not worried the possibility of about a couple aluminium atoms finding their way into my diet (even though I sincerely doubt that there is aluminum in cardboard box ink). Having bacon for breakfast today - it's a group 1 carcinogen. Will probably have a whiskey while I make supper this evening - another group 1 carcinogen. I'm totally zen about he fact that my time here on this earth is finite - and I'm not going to spend it worrying about every single little thing. You might call that a "funky attitude" :)

[@vojka2973]

@@maritimegardening4887 ur right... they saying right now coffee is good then they saying coffe is bad... bacon is healthy then bacon is unhealthy etc... we shouldn't worry too much about every single thing but for instance I heared that for beekiping it's not really good using news paper to warm their beehive during the winter because of the aluminium it contains so I related it with your video but I'm pretty sure that humans are more stronger than bees and that it will not affect us just like them. Having said all of it I didn't want to look smart I just commented my thought... ty for video and have a great day :)

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@vojka2973 Oh no problem. Knew you had the best intentions with the comment :) The ink thing is a comment I get from time to time. I've been thinking about doing a video on it since it seems to be a recurring question.

[@mikejmcc1970]

Also the biggest potatoes are going to produce the biggest potatoes, and that is what we want. Evolution 101

[@maritimegardening4887]

Potatoes are clones when planted from potato tubers, so it's really not "evolution" in this particular case. You're not selecting for qualities that you want from successive generations, as with plants started from seeds; rather, in the case of replanting seed potatoes, you are making copies. The size of the seed potato may affect the number of potatoes that grow from it (since the larger potatoes will put out more eyes), but not their size. The size is a function of that particular clone's genetic potential, and the available water, light and nutrients.

[@yahushaismyshepherd1179]

Sprinkle powdered sulphur in your garden. Potatoes get scab from the soil being too sweet.

[@JAENALABIDIN-ip7yr]

Ini no Bu

[@staceyater756]

Don't peel your potatoes. That's where most of the nutrients are.

[@fishmut]

Stacey Ater it’s funny you know, I have a small above garden bed on top of the ground fill with manures compost soil etc, iv been burying my kitchen scapes into it and letting nature take its course , works great to the soil is awesome in there. The thing about this tho is the potato peels are all growing in it even very tiny pieces and I’m not even trying, I think tho I made conditioned just right accidentally because I put compost worms in there and cover it with sheets of tin to stop my dogs from digging the scraps out and destroying my little plot. Anyway I lift the tin lid and potatoes every where so I’m constantly pulling them out ,there growing with no effort at all , trouble is it’s winter here now , I just find this Pretty crazy but peels will grow when I could not get them to grow if I tried.

[@kapppz]

I had to stop the vid to make sure I didn't have a cricket in the house.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Sorry - I don't use that camera any more

[@moonbladem]

When you speed up your video and it's obvious you're saying something, I wonder what valuable advice we're missing out on. :/

[@maritimegardening4887]

It's so valuable that I muted it out :)

[@stbam1965]

Get to the point

[@maritimegardening4887]

If you can't take 14 minutes to learn something - I'm probably the wrong teacher for you.

[@joemercieca4794]

Rude person. Where is your video?

[@stbam1965]

Uh uh uh uh

[@HeatherRose_]

Did you make yourself feel smart?

[@stbam1965]

@@HeatherRose_ I am

[@Redhackle]

Thank you.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You're welcome!