How to store beets in the cellar. How to store beets in winter and summer - expert advice

Tell me how to store beets in the winter in the cellar? Last year, they harvested their first crop and simply put the root crops in boxes. But after new year holidays most of the fruits became lethargic. It's pretty cool in the cellar, maybe we store it wrong?

Growing good large beets is not all. The main thing is to keep the crop as long as possible. In winter, vegetables are much more expensive. It makes sense to stock up on your own, if possible. For owners of private plots, the question of where to place the root crops after harvesting is not worth it. All crops grown in the garden are sent to the cellar. It's the perfect storage space, provided it's set up properly. How to store beets in the cellar in winter so that they do not germinate and fade? We will share with you some secrets that will help provide for your family. fresh vegetables until the new season.

Preparing beets for the "descent" into the cellar correctly

Long term storage deposit proper preparation fruit after harvest. It is better to dig up beets in dry sunny weather. Then it will be possible to leave it for a couple of hours to dry under the sun. After the harvest should be carefully sorted out. For winter storage it is necessary to select only absolutely healthy and whole fruits. They should not show signs of decay. Damaged when digging should be used first. She won't stay long. Leave the already sorted beets to dry for a week under a canopy, in the shade.

It is better to cut the tops with scissors or a knife. If you tear with your hands, there is a risk of damaging the fetus itself. Tails are left completely.

Storage conditions

In order for all vegetables, including beets, to lie longer, the basement must also be “correct”. The optimum temperature should not exceed 2 ° C, and humidity - 90%. The more damp and the warmer in the cellar, the faster the fruits will germinate and deteriorate.

Ventilation is one of important conditions to maintain the desired microclimate in the cellar.

How to store beets in the winter in the cellar: ways

Most gardeners just pour the fruits on the floor. This is quite possible, but it would be better to build a separate compartment. It must be above floor level so that air can flow from below.

You can extend the shelf life of beets using some tricks, namely:

Put the fruits on top of the potato tubers.
Pour sand into the box.
Roll each beetroot in ashes or crushed chalk.
Treat with a strong saline solution before storing.

Some summer residents still cover root crops with fern foliage. It is claimed to prevent the development of diseases.

Having dried the beets well and sorted, it is quite possible to keep them almost until the new harvest. And if you open the doors to the cellar in good weather, then it will not germinate.

Video on how to store beets in peat boxes

The main purpose of cellars and basements is to store vegetables in winter period. The third most popular garden vegetable after potatoes and carrots is beets. It grows well even in harsh climates and does not require particularly complex care. For canning, beets are practically not used, but in fresh and boiled form they are added to many dishes of Russian and Ukrainian cuisine. A lot has already been said about how to store beets in the cellar in winter. I propose to systematize this knowledge and put it on the shelves.

Proper collection and preparation of root crops for laying

For digging beets, it is better to choose a dry and sunny day. Since an impressive part of the “body” of the beet is above the ground, it does not tolerate night frosts. If the vegetable freezes, then it will be bad to lie in the winter. The frozen part will quickly begin to deteriorate and rot. Therefore, choose the right time to harvest. AT middle lane beets are harvested in October, and in southern latitudes - at the end of October - November.

Beets are afraid of frost, as most of the root crop is above the ground.

If the digging of beets fell on rainy weather, the root crops will need to be dried. Humidity promotes the active reproduction of pathogens and fungi that damage vegetables, cause rot and mold.

Root crops should be carefully dug up with a shovel or pitchfork and pulled out of the ground by the tops. Perform all actions carefully, trying not to damage the skin. Any crack or scratch on the surface of the vegetable will make it difficult to store, as it " opened door» for bacteria.

After the harvest is harvested, it is worth carrying out a series of simple manipulations:

We clean. Gently shake off and clean off the adhering soil from the root crops. We clean the dirt with hands in garden gloves or a rag. It is better not to use a knife or spatula for this, as vegetables are very easy to damage with sharp objects. Also, do not beat the root crops on hard surfaces or against each other to beat off the stuck ground.
We cut off the roots. We remove the thin lateral roots completely, shorten the central root to 6-7 centimeters. These actions are also performed by hand. If the central root is too thick, you can trim it with secateurs or scissors.
We remove the tops. We collect beet leaves in a bunch and cut to a height of half a centimeter. We do not cut the tops too short, so as not to affect the root crop itself.
We dry. To dry, the beets can be laid out on a mat outdoors, weather permitting. Or sprinkle it in a layer in one vegetable in a dry and well-ventilated area. If the harvest was going in the rain, the vegetables should be dried for at least a week.
Let's sort by size. Clean and dried root crops should be sorted by size. It is ideal to store vegetables of medium size, rounded and dense. Too large (as well as too small) root crops are stored worse. We immediately separate spoiled or damaged vegetables. It is best to put them in the refrigerator in order to use them first or recycle them.

The harvest is ready for laying in the cellar. It remains to create in the cellar right conditions for storage, properly prepare the place and take some preventive measures.

Cellar temperature and humidity

Keeping beets in the cellar is easy. It is enough to follow the rules specific to the storage of most root crops. In a well-built basement or cellar, protected from cold and moisture, these conditions are easily met. However, in order for crop losses to be minimal and burgundy vegetables to last until the next season, it is worth paying additional attention to several points.

Burgundy root crops are well stored if the conditions necessary for them are observed.

The main factors affecting the preservation of root crops in the winter in the cellar or underground are air temperature and indoor humidity.

Properly store beets at a temperature of 0 to +2 degrees. If the cellar is warm, the vegetables will quickly begin to wither. A slight increase in temperature (up to +4 degrees) leads to the germination of beets. The vegetable also does not tolerate freezing. Therefore, if the weather forecast promises quick frosts, cover the boxes with beets with felt, burlap or straw.

The humidity required for the best preservation of burgundy roots is 90%. This is a fairly high figure compared to other vegetables.

Good ventilation in the room is also important. The air in the cellar must circulate and not stagnate. Otherwise, rot will quickly form on the fruits.

Before lowering the crop into the cellar, it is advisable to equip the room - make shelves or racks inside. It is not recommended to place boxes with beets on a clay or concrete floor. Also, you can not lean them against the walls of the room, as condensation often forms on them. As a last resort, you can simply build a flooring from planks. The distance from boxes or bags of vegetables to the floor should be at least 15 centimeters.

Beet storage boxes must have ventilation holes. If you are storing root vegetables in sieve vegetable containers, note that the open spaces should not be more than 5 cm in size. Otherwise, the smallest representatives of root crops will fall out. You can make special bins for beets, about 1 meter high, like for potatoes.

Before laying the crop, clean the cellar, dry the room and treat the walls with lime. This will help keep the crop from mold and microorganisms. If rodents are found in your basement, take care of their timely eviction from your territory.

Inspect boxes of root crops from time to time. Vegetables that have begun to deteriorate should be removed immediately.

Ways to store beets in the cellar

Each vegetable has its own (favorable for him) storage conditions. However, in general, the same rules are typical for the maturation of most root crops. Beets are even easier to store than carrots or potatoes.

It is not difficult to store beets - they are less whimsical than other vegetables.

How to properly store beets:

With potatoes. Scatter the beets even layer on top of potatoes in a potato box. In doing so, we create optimal conditions for both vegetables. Potatoes love dryness and spoil quickly in a humid environment. But beets need a little more moisture than most vegetables. Under such conditions, the beets will not only feel good, but also take away excess moisture from the potatoes, thereby protecting them from decay.
In small boxes with holes. Beets are poured into small wooden or plastic boxes. You don't need to cover the boxes. They must have air holes.
Pyramids on the shelves Burgundy root crops can be stored directly on the racks and collected in pyramids. Pre-shelves are covered with burlap or straw. Pyramids should not touch the walls of the basement and the upper shelves.
Ash or sand . We put the beets in wooden boxes and sprinkle with wood ash or sand. As for the sand, beets can be completely buried in it. The main thing is to pre-ignite it in order to disinfect it. For storage of crops, it is best to take river sand.
Sprinkle with salt. This method is similar to the previous one, only table salt is used as an adsorbent. Copiously "salt" the vegetables in the boxes, or dip each root vegetable in a strong saline solution and dry. After that, put away for storage.
Mixed with leaves. Lay the root crops with leaves of mountain ash, wormwood or fern. These plants prevent the active reproduction of pathogenic microflora, as they release volatile substances, phytoncides.
Immersion of roots in clay. Dilute the greasy clay solution with water. The density of a properly diluted clay mass should resemble sour cream. You can add some chalk to the clay. Dip each root crop individually in the solution and let it dry. Repeat procedure. After re-drying, you can remove the beets for storage.
In large plastic bags. This method can be used for small basements where you want to save space. The bags are not placed on the floor of the cellar, but on wooden stands or bricks. Try not to put more than 40 kilograms of root crops in one bag.

The best way to store beets is to put them in a box on top of potatoes.

By choosing any of these methods and maintaining the required microclimate in the cellar, you can keep the beet harvest until the next season. The best are mid- and late-ripening varieties of beets. For example:

Bordeaux 237.
Late winter A-474.
Egyptian flat.
Red ball.
Libero.

Knowing how to properly store beets, you can significantly reduce the loss of harvest of this root crop in the winter.

Beets, like other root crops, are convenient to keep until the next season in the cellar or in the basement, where they are created for it. best conditions, that's just how to store beets in the cellar so that it remains solid all winter and does not lose its taste?

The key to successful storage of beets is proper cultivation and harvesting

With long-term storage of this most useful root crop, many have problems. But it’s hard to imagine Russian cuisine without beets! And with the approach of spring, it would be nice to increase the consumption of beets, given its many medicinal properties.

In fact, the storage of beets should not cause much trouble, because it belongs to the table root crops, the keeping quality of which is much better than that of carrots or potatoes. If you know how to properly store beets and prevent specimens affected by infectious diseases from getting into the total mass of the crop, then in the spring you will get strong, healthy root crops from the cellar that have not lost their marketable appearance and taste.

Storing beets for the winter will be successful if you not only provide for them suitable conditions in the basement, but also grow it correctly, carefully harvest and sort the crop, and most importantly, select varieties that are distinguished by the best keeping quality and cold resistance.

Video about the collection and storage of beets

Before you start growing beets, you need to remember that the highest quality, healthy root crops are obtained on fertile sandy or loamy soils. If you plant beets in acidic soil, it can be affected by common scab, as a result of which the skin of root crops will become covered with warts and cracks, and become rough. Subsequently, other diseases that adversely affect the keeping quality of beets will easily develop in the cracks.

For household plots beet varieties with high keeping quality are well suited: Incomparable, Bravo, Bordeaux 237, Red Ball, Podzimnyaya, Odnorostkovaya, Nosovskaya flat, etc.

Choose varieties with small root crops - they are tastier, not as fibrous as large ones, and they store much better. But too small beets should not be left for storage.

Choose varieties with small root crops - they are tastier

Beet harvesting should begin earlier than, since the ripened beets that are on the surface of the earth quickly freeze at the first frost. Dig up root crops as carefully as possible so that fungal and viral diseases do not develop in them due to mechanical damage.

Diseases that reduce the keeping quality of beets:

on beets that have been frozen or damaged during digging, often develops gray rot;
in root crops overfed with nitrogen and phosphorus, susceptibility to white rot increases;
white and gray rot can be brought into storage along with lumps of earth adhering to root crops;
in summer, beets are often affected by fusarium, as well as phomosis, which develop during winter storage, forming hard black spots and voids in root crops;
during wet spring and dry summer, there is a deficiency of boron salts in the soil, due to which beets develop heart rot, which passes from the root head inward, forming voids. Such root crops rot at the very beginning of storage.

It is advisable to leave the dug crop for a short time under the sun in the garden.

How to store beets in winter - preparation of root crops and storage conditions

It is advisable to leave the dug crop for a short time under the sun in the garden (therefore, it is better to dig it out in dry, cool weather), so that the beets dry out a little and are better cleaned from the ground. Root crops cannot be washed! Next, the beets must be carefully sorted out, leaving for long-term storage only those specimens that look healthy, do not have mechanical damage or signs of disease. The tops of the beets are carefully cut with scissors or a sharp knife, leaving "hemp" one centimeter each. Just do not cut off the leaves with your hands and do not touch the tails of the beets, otherwise you will inevitably damage the root crops!

Put the beets sorted, cleaned from lumps of earth and tops in a dry room with good ventilation and no direct sun rays so that the root crops completely dry out within a week. After that, you can transfer the beets to storage for the winter.

Storage of beets in a basement or cellar is recommended at a humidity not exceeding 90% and at temperatures between zero and two degrees Celsius. More heat will lead to the rapid withering of root crops, decay and the development of diseases. Beets are especially sensitive to elevated temperatures at the beginning of storage: at +4 degrees, tops will immediately begin to sprout in them.

The basement should have natural ventilation, and beet bins need to be arranged 15 cm above the floor

Keep in mind that the higher the air temperature in the storage, and the greater the humidity, the faster the development of fungal diseases will occur, which will spread very quickly to the entire crop. But the signs of some diseases when sorting the dug out crop are outwardly completely invisible.

Air circulation in the storage is also of great importance - natural ventilation should be provided in the basement, and beet bins should be arranged 15 cm above the floor so that the air circulates calmly, evenly cooling the root crops and preventing them from sweating.

Winter storage options for beets

In fact, storing beets in the cellar is not much different from or carrots. You can simply store root crops in bulk on the floor, but it is more convenient to make bins with walls up to one meter high and provide at the bottom wooden grate for better ventilation beets. Bins should be placed ten centimeters from the walls of the cellar or basement. Make sure that the gaps between the boards in the walls do not exceed five centimeters, otherwise the beets will fall into them.

Video about proper storage of beets

How can you store beets in the basement and cellar:

The most common option is to store beets on top of potatoes. By doing this, you will immediately kill two birds with one stone: the beets will absorb the moisture it needs, and the potatoes, on the contrary, will be protected from excessive moisture.
For better preservation of root crops, some gardeners sprinkle them with sand or powder with sifted ash.
You can store beets in the same way as carrots - in boxes filled with sun-dried river sand. Only during the winter it is necessary to ensure that the sand does not become wet.
Beets are also well stored in boxes, pre-treated with brine or sprinkled with salt (after brine, root crops must be well dried).
Under the beets and on top of it, you can lay the leaves of a fern or any other plants rich in phytoncides.

You can store beets in the same way as carrots - in boxes filled with sun-dried river sand

Now you know how to store beets in the cellar, and what you need to consider so that the root crops remain as firm and tasty until the next season as after harvest. The main thing - do not allow the appearance of rodents in your cellar or basement!

People who are interested in how to store beets should understand that this process is complex and should be prepared for in advance, and not at the last moment.

Rules for preparing beets for long-term storage

The successful storage of this vegetable largely depends on a number of factors that should be followed in without fail. This is about:

Cultivated variety. Not all varieties of this root crop are equally well suited for long-term storage. In order to stay in a specially equipped place for a long time, the fruits must have good keeping quality. Suitable not only early ripe, but also mid-season, as well as late varieties, for example, Bordeaux, Mulatto, Renova, Detroit, Lettuce, Libero, and also hybrid variety Pablo F1. It should be noted that a variety so common in our country as a Cylinder is completely unsuitable for storage, especially for winter.
Soil - as is the case with all the rest horticultural crops, great importance has a soil where the root crop is grown. How to save beets for the winter in this case? Chernozem, both pure and with an admixture of clay and sand deposits, makes the plant very dense and resistant to caking. This option is the best. But too acidic soil negatively affects the integrity of the surface coating of fruits, causing them to crack. Consequently, long-term storage will be impossible. Also hyperacidity causes the development of dangerous diseases, such as scab.
Fertilizers - there is a common and fundamentally wrong opinion that the more organic or chemical fertilizers the better the harvest will be. In fact, oversaturation of the soil with such substances also has a negative side - the fruits will be prone to rotting processes, and therefore they simply will not survive the winter. In addition, it is noted Negative influence such vegetables on human health.
Watering - it is very important to strike a balance between high-quality watering and natural drying of the soil. How to store beets in the cellar, if it is too wet, which means that it will almost completely begin to rot soon, no one knows. Also, you can not overdry the root crop too much - during storage, they can begin to wrinkle and fade.

To summarize all of the above, we can draw a very simple conclusion - for high-quality storage, you need to take care of the choice suitable varieties and provide them with optimal conditions for growth and development. Harvesting is an equally important process, because a lot also depends on it.

Harvesting the grown crop and preparing for storage

Storing beets at home will be hassle-free if they are harvested correctly. It must be understood that this process is carried out with extreme caution. It is only in films and fairy tales that it is enough to pull the tops and the vegetable will be in your hands in a moment. In fact, even minimal damage to the upper skin of the root crop can significantly reduce its shelf life, because trauma is the entrance gate for many diseases and bacteria that the beets will not be able to cope with, due to the lack of useful trace elements that come to it through root system from the ground.

The best option is to carefully dig up the root crop, using either a shovel or even a pitchfork. The field of this is carefully pulled out along with the root system, the excess earth is immediately shaken off. You do not need to immediately carry the freshly harvested crop to a dark place - let it lie in the open air and dry a little.

The most optimal dimensions are about 10-15 centimeters in diameter.

When sorting, you can remove the remaining lumps of dirt. At the same time, it is not recommended to completely eliminate any manifestations of the ground coating on vegetables - a thin layer of adhering earth favorably affects the storage process. If the soil is too hard, it is removed, the loose soil will eventually crumble itself.

Storing beets in a cellar, basement or apartment has significant differences. The only thing that connects all these methods is the presence of a room where root crops are placed. This place must be prepared in a quality manner, and there is no difference whether it is summer or winter outside. It must meet the following requirements:

Storing beets in a cellar, basement or apartment has significant differences.

The room chosen for storage should be neither too warm nor too cold. Optimum temperature for this crop - from about zero to +4 degrees Celsius. If the temperature rises, this leads to the fact that the fruits throw out sprouts that grow rapidly and, accordingly, draw all the juices from the vegetable, making it sluggish and degrading the taste.

Storage methods

To date, the answer to the question - how to properly store beets in winter, can have many answers. Existing Options organization of this process is characterized by diversity and high efficiency. They should not be neglected, since beets are known for their usefulness. The most optimal room, in terms of creating balanced conditions, is to place the crop in a basement or cellar. Here it can be stored with equal success in the following ways:

in bulk in pre-arranged bins. Simple and popular way. It is advisable to mix root crops with sand, and lay heat and moisture insulating material on the floor;
in wooden boxes or baskets, but in no case in closed containers;
by building pyramids on shelves or racks;
in sandboxes. At the same time, the container is closed. A rather risky method, suitable for poorly equipped premises;
in combination with potatoes, namely by placing on tubers. You can just bulk, or use boxes and bags.

The following conditions must be created in the basement or cellar:

lack of sunlight;
the temperature is not lower than zero and not higher than four degrees Celsius;
high humidity level - about 90 percent;
high-quality ventilation, preferably with natural air circulation;
the possibility of freezing of the room must be excluded.

How to keep beets in the apartment

Often there are cases when a standard cellar or basement, due to the lack of a summer residence or its too distant location, is not available. But this is not the reason that the cultivation of this crop should be abandoned. Both in winter and in summer, root crops can be stored even in your own apartment. Of course, this is a riskier way, and therefore there is no guarantee that all vegetables will retain their basic qualities with the onset of spring. The maximum period for placing fruits in an apartment is three to four months.

Here's how to store beets in an apartment:

on a sheltered balcony. If it is insulated, respectively, the temperature does not fall below zero, then this a good place for storage of roots. Here they can be placed in closed boxes, previously sprinkled with sand;
if the balcony is poorly protected from frost, then you can create a kind of portable cellar on it. To do this, it is recommended to take an ordinary box, cover it with foam plastic and place a small light bulb inside;
a utility room is also suitable for storage. Here it is also desirable to use boxes of sand, but this requires regular monitoring so that the sand does not become too wet;
well-dried beets sprinkled with sand and clay can be placed for long-term storage even in living rooms, for example, by putting such boxes right under the bed;
the root crop retains its basic qualities and integrity well, wrapped in food foil or paper and placed in the refrigerator. In this state, it can be kept for about three months - just enough to overwinter.

If you follow at least some of the above tips, the "life" of the average root crop can be extended to an incredible seven to eight months. Therefore, it can be stored not only in winter, but also in summer.

It's nice when you can grow in the garden good harvest root crops. However, if in summer water and sun help to achieve success, in winter they nullify all efforts. That is why it is important to know how to store beets - temperature regime, humidity level, place and methods of storage.

What varieties of beets are suitable for storage

Not every variety of root crop can be stored in the winter. The main criterion for choosing root seeds is keeping quality. If the beets do not meet this characteristic, it will not be possible to save the crop even in optimal conditions. The following varieties have the best keeping quality:

Renova;
Libero;
Bordeaux;
Mulatto;
Detroit;
Salad;
Egyptian flat;
incomparable;
Gribovskaya.

Many gardeners know the excellent taste of Cylinder beets, it is often used for winter storage. However, the keeping quality of this variety is low.

Advice: the best choice for sowing, harvesting and further storage of red beets - varieties bred in the region where you live. They are more suitable for growing in specific climatic conditions.

How to prepare crops for long-term storage

Incorrect handling harvested crop significantly reduces the keeping quality of root crops. Incorrect collection technology, careless blow or knife damage can provoke infection, as a result - the process of decay, the development of diseases and the complete loss of the crop.

Collection technology

In most cases, beets are simply pulled by the tops and pulled out of the ground. But in this case, there is a high probability of damaging the skin - scratching or cutting. Any, even the slightest damage, reduces the shelf life of the crop.

The right technology harvesting - carefully dig up the root crop with a shovel and pitchfork, lift it with an earthen clod, and only then pull it out by the tops.

For harvesting, it is better to choose a dry and warm day, this prolongs the shelf life of the harvested crop. Keep a close eye on the weather forecast - it is important to remove the beets before the first frost, otherwise they become unsuitable for storage.

Drying

An obligatory stage before laying the crop for storage is drying. If the weather is dry and sunny, you can leave the root crops in the garden for 3-4 hours. Long stay on fresh air dries up the beets. If you are forced to harvest in rainy weather, you need to dry the beets in a room that is well ventilated. At the same time, root crops are stored in bulk in one layer on the floor. The drying process lasts from three days to a week.

Tip: Inspect your beets daily for mold and rot.

First processing

It is carried out immediately after drying. The processing technology consists of the following steps.

Cleaning the fruits from the earth and clay, this should be done carefully, you can not beat the beets against each other, clean off the dirt with a sharp object. Pathogenic microorganisms penetrate into a healthy root crop through cracks and damage, in which case it will not be possible to save it.
Cutting the tops, you need to leave a small tail no more than 1 cm long. You can not twist the tops with your hands, it is better to use a sharp knife or scissors.
Lateral roots are also cut with a knife or scissors.
The main root can be cut, leaving a tail up to 7 cm. Experts recommend not to rush to cut the main root, if it is short and branched, it is better not to touch it.

This is important: root crops intended for storage should not be washed.

Sorting

The sorting process involves the inspection of each root crop and rejection with the slightest damage, signs of disease, rot. Only perfectly healthy medium-sized beets - 10 to 12 cm in diameter - are subject to storage. Larger, coarse-fibred vegetables are stored worse, cook longer and are not so tasty.

Also, during sorting, additional cleaning of the fruits is carried out, but remember that you should not completely clean the earth from the surface, because it protects the crop from contact with neighboring vegetables. Remove only large earthen clods that could damage the beets.

storage process

Storage of beets is possible in several ways, the choice depends on your capabilities and living conditions. The most common storage methods are:

outdoors in trenches and pits;
indoors - in the cellar, not illuminated room, in the refrigerator or on the balcony;
in bulk in the bins;
in wooden boxes or wicker baskets;
on shelves;
in boxes with sand;
along with potatoes in bags.

Necessary storage conditions

It is better to organize the storage of beets in the cellar, here are ideal conditions:

dark;
the temperature does not rise above +2 degrees;
air humidity does not fall below 90%;
constant air circulation is maintained;
the possibility of freezing root crops is excluded.

It is especially important to support the necessary conditions during the first two months. At a temperature of +4 degrees and above, tops begin to grow actively, and this significantly reduces the shelf life of vegetables. For natural air circulation, it is necessary to raise the storage place by 15 cm from the floor.

The longest beets are stored in sand, it prevents the evaporation of moisture, slows down the processes of decay and mold formation. In winter, it is this method of storage that is most favorable for beets - vegetables do not get sick, do not dry out and retain a full set of vitamins and microelements. Great alternative to sand sawdust or peat.

If you plan to store vegetables in a container, put medium-sized fruits on the bottom, as they have better keeping quality.

Tip: to prepare the talker, you need to pour clay into a bucket and gradually pour water, stirring the mixture with a stick until a solution of the consistency of liquid sour cream is formed. The main advantage of clay in its ability to pass oxygen is thus preserved natural circulation air necessary for the preservation of the crop.

It is allowed to store vegetables in plastic bags, one can fit up to 40 kg. The main condition is to leave the container open, do not close it hermetically.

A fairly common occurrence is dry rot. For preventive purposes, vegetables should be regularly reviewed, selecting and discarding specimens with the slightest signs of disease and rot. If the affected area is small and you do not want to throw away the entire root crop, cut out the site of the disease and sprinkle with wood ash. Signs of germination appear when storage conditions are not met - the air temperature is too high. It is not necessary to throw away the sprouted root crop, it is enough to cut off the young tops so that the leaves do not dry the vegetable.

Storing beets at home

AT country house it is better to use the basement for storage. If there is no basement, you can:

put the beets in a plastic bag and, without tying it, put it on the balcony (it must be glazed and regularly ventilated), during severe frosts, vegetables are covered with warm blankets from above;
if the size of the balcony allows, wooden boxes are used, in this case one layer is needed to lay out the beets to avoid rotting;
the refrigerator is perfect for storing root crops; in the bottom drawer, beets will lie perfectly for up to a month.

A little secret: many housewives prefer to store beets in the form of a semi-finished product. To do this, grate the vegetables, pack them in portions in bags and put them in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.

Pay attention to the condensate that appears in the container with the beets, it is necessary to dry the vegetables.

If you had to store root crops at room temperature, avoid their proximity to heating appliances.

Only properly prepared, undamaged and healthy root crops have good keeping quality. It is not always possible to see microcracks under a layer of earth or clay, so as not to lose the entire crop, summer residents use several tips that have been tested for centuries.

Beetroot keeps well with potatoes. It is laid on top of the potatoes in one layer. In this case, vegetables from the lower layers give moisture to the beets, which need it.
The best way to extend the shelf life is to place the beets in sand. However, not every sand is suitable for this. Before the mixture is calcined in the sun or in an oven, this kills germs. In the container, vegetables should not touch each other. From above you need to pour sand with a layer of 2 cm.
A modern way to store beets - in table salt. This technique popular with many gardeners. There are two technologies: dry- root crops are placed in containers with salt; - wet- each beet is treated with a strong saline solution, then dried and stored for storage. The most preferred dry technology.
If you plan to store beets in wood ash, pre-sift it.
For quite a long time and without damage, beets, shifted with fern leaves, are stored.
Reliably protects from mechanical damage and various diseases processing beets with chalk.
Another good way to keep root crops until spring is to use sawdust, shavings or peat.
The crop is well stored in large plastic bags with a capacity of up to 40 kg; they cannot be tied up so as not to interfere with the free penetration of air.
If the crop is large, special polyethylene tabs are laid between the vegetables.
To store the crop in bulk, use a wooden grate, which is installed on the floor.

Fresh vegetables are an important part of a healthy and balanced menu, and it is important to consume them. all year round. In winter and spring, the cost of fresh vegetables is quite high, it is quite easy to fix the problem if you know how to organize the storage of the harvest harvested in the fall.