# Storing potatoes in barrels?



## potatoguru (May 6, 2013)

I have an insulated pump-house that never dips below freezing during the winter and stays at the perfect temperature for potatoes. I plan to store my taters in there inside a 55 gallon barrel. I've heard of layering the potatoes inside the barrel with straw, straw on the bottom, then potatoes, more straw, then potatoes. Should I do this or can I just dump all the potatoes in there without layering them in straw?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I store my potatoes in 20 gallon crocks in my pole barn (insulated) and I put a layer of newspaper in the bottom to absorb any excess moisture. I would suggest adding the straw to the layers to aid in moisture absorbtion (spelling?) If you just dump them into the barrels, they will slowly begin to rot due to not having ventilation. Make sure you don't close off the top _too_ much so that the ventilation is cut off. I would suggest having a "chimney" of straw coming up thru the center in order to provide ventilation. Having too much moisture is worse than havng too dry an invironment (again, spelling?)


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## potatoguru (May 6, 2013)

This might be a dumb question, but would the straw keep the potatoes too warm and cause them to sprout or ruin?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Not at those temps.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Check the potatoes for cuts, bruises and bad spots before storing. If a bad one rots it ruins all the ones the "juice" gets on.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I don;t know if this applies to your case but I found a hug increase in keeping time when I gave up the carboard boxes in favor of baskets. I think the basket weave allows a bit more air circulation while still keeping out the light.
I also use shredded paper instead of straw. I can reuse that for a couple of years and have yet to see a rotted potato using it. Shrivelled to nothing but I just cleaned out my potato baskets to use for this years crop and there were a few shrivelled ones from over a year ago that had no rot spots at all.


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## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

I've heard of people using sand as well-you just need to make sure if you have cats they have no access to it!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

I've found my potatoes keep better if they can get a bit of air circulation. Baskets, crates or slatted barrels work better than anything with solid walls. Paper, straw, sand or coarse sawdust all work as long as it's DRY... with potatoes you're really just concerned with minimizing bruises and light exposure. If you use a plastic drum, you might want to drill some holes in it first.

ETA: another option is fabric, an old pillow case is about a 50 lb sack.


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