How to keep carrots in the cellar until spring?

How to keep carrots in the cellar? For sure, this question is of interest to almost every gardener, especially after he collected a rich harvest. Naturally, no one wants his work to be wasted, and to keep the freshness of vegetables as long as possible - this is the first priority.

Of course, it's not a secret for anyone that only the cold can provide a long shelf life, so the basement is an ideal option for this.

Do not know how to keep carrots in the cellar? First of all, you need to properly prepare the storage space.

Preparation of the cellar

Before laying vegetables, it is necessary to clean the basement from dirt and debris, disinfect it and ventilate it. The first procedure can be done by quenching the lime. In addition, this method of disinfection will protect the cellar from mold and fungal decay.

Those who are worried about the question of how to keep carrots in a cellar should know that certain conditions are necessary for this in the room. The air temperature should be from -1 to +2 degrees Celsius, humidity - 90-95%. It is desirable that the basement is not located near groundwater, because excess moisture can spoil the vegetables.

Recommendations for Harvesting

How and in what conditions you will collect carrots, also affects the duration of storage of this vegetable. Dig it is recommended in dry and warm weather, and for several days before the procedure the vegetable is recommended to water - so extracting it from the earth is easier, and the carrot itself becomes juicy. Naturally, when harvesting, you should work with a shovel or fork carefully, so as not to damage the root crop. In a dissected form, it will not be stored for a long time. After you have dug up and collected the carrots in cellophane or kapron bags, you must hold the vegetables in a well-ventilated room for a couple of days, after placing them on a straw mat. In this case, protect root crops from direct sunlight and moisture.

After that, it is superfluous to again sort the carrots, select only whole roots, without rot and damage.

Ways

There is a whole arsenal of ways through which the question of how to save carrots in a cellar is being decided. They differ only in the degree of efficiency, so each truck farmer independently chooses the most suitable option for himself.

One of the most common options is the standard formation of small piles on the floor. It is only necessary to regularly sort out the vegetables, removing the rotten ones.

Boxes

How to keep carrots in the cellar until spring? To do this, you need boxes of a small size with a capacity of about 20 kilograms. In this case, the container must be with a lid and dense walls.

In such boxes root crops are stored better than in boxes with holes. The container itself should be on stands or shelves - at an altitude of about 20 centimeters from the floor level.

Sawdust

Do not have any idea how to keep carrots in the cellar? In the sawdust it is kept by many truck farmers, and they are absolutely right. This solution to the problem in question is often used in cases where there are no boxes at hand.

Pre-sawdust poured directly on the shelves, and then they are laid out carrots. After that, the root crops are again filled with a layer of chips, and the procedure is repeated until 5-6 layers are formed. At the same time, keep in mind that the last layer should be sawdust. It is better to use shavings of coniferous trees, because root crops last as long as possible (they contain essential oils that slow the process of vegetable germination and minimize the risk of rot formation).

Sand

Those who are worried about how to keep carrots in the cellar for the winter, should know that instead of sawdust, you can use ordinary sand.

To do this, the vegetables are stacked in the form of a pyramid about 1 meter high, and then each layer is poured with the above-mentioned bulk material. It will act as an isolation and will not let the roots touch.

Fooling

Do you want to know if there are any other solutions to the problem, how to keep carrots in the cellar until spring? Of course, yes. The method of coating is sufficiently effective. In this case, the variant involves placing root crops in a moist chalky solution, and then follows the process of drying them. Dry coating involves applying a powdered structure of chalk to root crops in a ratio of 200 grams per 10 kilograms of vegetables. The layer of chalk forms an alkaline medium on the surface of the root crop, which prevents the occurrence of pathogens.

Polyethylene

Many truck farmers know how to store carrots in a cellar in packages. To do this you will need products made of polyethylene. At the bottom of the bags, several holes must be made.

Root crops should first be mixed with sand, and then placed in a prepared container, while closing the bags should not be to ensure high-quality air access.

Clay

You can increase the shelf life of carrots by treating the surface of root crops in clay composition. It is enough to dip each carrot into the mass for a few minutes. Thus in advance take care of that the mix had a consistence of sour cream. After the root crop is removed from the clay composition, it is dried, and then placed in a wooden container in such a way that the clay shell is not damaged. Of course, the above method takes a considerable amount of time and effort, but its efficiency is very high.

Onion husk

In order to enjoy the taste of fresh carrots in winter, before loading into the cellar, the roots are immersed in a broth prepared on the basis of onion husk, with a ratio of 300 grams of the mixture per 10 liters of water. You can simply pour stored vegetables onto dry onion husks.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of options for storing carrots. You should also remember that the shelf life of the root crop depends on the variety. As practice shows, freshly ripe vegetables can not be fresh for a long time. The exception is the following varieties of carrots: "chantant", "vitamin", "Moscow winter".