80-85 cure sweet potatoes
70 mature green tomatoes--to ripen
55-60 tomatoes at mature green stage--to store sweet
potatoes
45-48 potatoes for highest quality
38-40 potatoes--to prevent sprouting
32-40 beets, celeriac, kohlrabi, turnips, carrots,
rutabaga
30-32 apples, pears
Root crops keep their crispness longer when bedded in layers of moist
sand, peat, or sphagnum moss. However, perforated polyethylene bags and
box liners are easier to use than bedding. Root crops can be stored in
crates or boxes in moist air, but they gradually lose moisture and
quality unless polyethylene liners are used. Carrots and beets may be
stored in 10-gallon crocks or any container that will prevent excessive
shriveling.
Quick dipping of dried and trimmed turnips, rutabagas, or parsnips in
wax will prevent shriveling. Float a layer of jelly-type paraffin on top
of a kettleful of heated water which is deep enough to cover the
vegetable. Dip room temperature vegetables quickly through the layer of
wax.
For a thinner, harder wax film add a little salt and 10 to 20 percent
clean beeswax.
Potatoes are the principal root crops you will probably store. Potatoes
are eaten from the time they are of sufficient size for early use until
storage time, and during storage when the vines have fully ripened.
If potatoes are harvested before maturity the skin may flake off easily.
They are all right for immediate use, but not for storage. Immature
potatoes shrink badly, bruise easily, and will not keep well very long.
For storage, potatoes should be allowed to mature and develop a thick
skin. When the tops lie down the tubers should be mature enough for
storage.
Dig potatoes carefully to avoid bruises, for better storage life.
Handle newly dug potatoes with care until the surface has dried or cured
a few hours or more. You can keep them in baskets or slatted crates in
single layers at first.
Store sound mature tubers in darkness at a minimum relative humidity of
95 percent and 45° to 48° F for highest quality. For very long storage
keep at a temperature of 38° to 40° to prevent sprouting. The starch
changes to sugar if potatoes are held below 45°. Potatoes may not show
any external effect from exposure to these lower temperatures, but
sometimes darkened tissue will be seen if the potato is cut and exposed
to air.
Light causes considerable "greening" in potatoes. The green portion
contains an undesirable substance that gives a bitter flavor.
Sweet potatoes that are well matured, carefully handled, properly cured,
and stored at 55° to 60° F can be kept until April or May.
Sweet potatoes are easily bruised and cut. Handle them carefully and as
little as possible. Put them directly in storage containers at harvest.
Cure freshly dug sweet potatoes by holding them about 10 days under
moist conditions at 80° to 85° F. In the absence of better facilities,
sweet potatoes can be cured near your furnace. To maintain high humidity
during curing, stack storage crates and cover them with paper or heavy
cloth. If the temperature near your furnace is between 65° and 75°, the
curing period should last 2 to 3 weeks. After curing, move the crates to
a cooler part of your basement or house where a temperature of about 55°
to 60° can be maintained.
In houses without central heating, sweet potatoes can be kept behind a
cookstove or around a warm chimney. If you keep sweet potatoes this way,
wrap them in fireproof paper (to slow down temperature changes) and
store them in boxes or barrels.
Sweet potatoes are subject to damage by chilling. Do not store them at
50° F or below.
Outdoor pits are not recommended for storing sweet potatoes, because
dampness of the pits encourages decay.