[AJD] OT potato storage

[Ron Cook]

Chris,
    I seem to remember the warehouses where I sprayed spuds were kept at 
39.  I thought I had it worked out in a corner of the basement. Two cold 
walls and I was able to keep them dark and I thought I could get them in 
the mid forties.  I only got them to mid fifties. However, propane got 
too expensive for me and I started burning the wood burner in the 
basement.  In order to get the firewood where the fireplace is, I had to 
open the room where the spuds were to carry firewood through.  I guess 
that little bit heated things up too much.  The room where the fireplace 
is was probably 90 degrees most of the winter.  The savings on propane 
will just have to offset the loss of the spuds.  I will just have to 
build a potato bin in that corner insulated from the rest of the place, 
I guess.  I had intended to do just that, but ran out of time to do it 
right, I guess.
Ron Cook
Salix, IA
On 3/8/2014 10:07 PM, Chris C wrote
> Well,  I know that the spud growers around here try to keep them around 39 degrees when they are in storage.  They do circulate air through the piles and the storage buildings are climate controlled to keep the humidity just right.  Too wet you get fungus,  too dry and the shrivel up.  They pile around 18' deep for reds around here.  The pile will shrink about 3 feet over the course of the time they are in storage.  Sounds like you need a good root cellar.  Dark, cool and consistent temperature.
>
>     Chris
>
>
>
>
>
> On Saturday, March 8, 2014 5:11 PM, Ron Cook <ron at lakeport-1.com> wrote:
>   
> Mark,
>       Perfect.  I plan to build something like that this summer.
> Ron Cook
> Salix, IA
>
> On 3/8/2014 2:00 PM, Mark Johnson wrote:
>> Sorry to hear you've lost most of your crop.
>>
>> When I was a kid, we had a concrete well-house which was at the perfect temp
>> for storing potatoes. Never froze, but we only ran enough heat with heat
>> lamps to
>> prevent that...storage temp ran from high 30's to 50 or so.
>>
>> Mark Johnson
>> Columbia, MO
>>
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