The peel of the root vegetable is thin and delicate - this explains their difficulty in storage. Harmful bacteria easily penetrate through the loose skin; carrots quickly sprout, freeze or rot. Be sure to select only dense and healthy fruits, which show no signs of mechanical damage or disease.
Carrots are 80% water. Sharp temperature fluctuations, excessive humidity or dryness in the room, dampness, poor cleaning of the basement - a complex of factors leads to the fact that the water from the fruit begins to evaporate (the carrots become soft and flabby). Suitable:
- – 1-2 degrees above zero (you can find out more about the storage temperature of root vegetables);
- humidity indicators – 90-95%;
- moderate level of ventilation (no drafts).
Reliable long-term storage will provide a room with artificial air ventilation, where constant temperature and humidity are maintained. Before harvesting, be sure to dry and trim the carrot tops.
We select suitable varieties for harvesting
One of the conditions for high-quality preservation is the choice of hybrids. For planting for the winter, it is recommended to select mid- or late-ripening species. Early varieties They do not retain moisture well and are suitable for immediate use - eating or preserving.
When choosing planting material It is advisable to pay attention to the packaging - the average ripening time is always indicated here.
General requirements for fruits: correct shape, high yields, intended for long-term storage. Subject to the right technology carrots will last up to 6-8 months.
Which varieties to choose:
- Forto.
- Vita Longa.
- Shantanay.
- Queen of Autumn.
- Carlena.
You can find out more about which varieties of carrots are best suited for storage.
What is pruning: the purpose of the procedure
Before the pruning procedure, it is dried. When digging, it is forbidden to hit the carrots against each other, shaking off the soil. This leads to microcracks, loss of integrity and reduced shelf life. If required, then after washing you need to dry the crop well (keep hanging in warm air for at least 1-3 days).
Trimming carrots means removing the top green part. This procedure will help preserve useful components in the fruits and stop the processes of rotting and drying out. If the tops are left, they will actively grow, taking water and nutrients from the fruit. Pruning should be done based on the purpose and storage period.
- The period does not exceed 3 months. Trim the green mass 2-3 cm above the vegetable head.
- 2-4 months. Further use is for obtaining seeds. Trimming is identical to the first option.
- Long-term storage (until next season). It is necessary to trim the tops along with 2-3 mm of the root head itself. This will stop germination and the carrots will retain their juiciness and taste.
Do I need to remove the tops to keep them in the cellar?
Cutting off the green part is mandatory for any carrot storage technology. If carrots are left in the ground for the winter, the tops are cut off without affecting the root crop itself. To store in the basement, you need to cut off the greens and remove the growing point - cut off 2-5 mm from the top edge of the fruit, if desired.
How to prepare carrots for wintering: detailed instructions
Preparing carrots for storage is an important stage that needs to be given maximum attention (about how to prepare carrots for storage in winter period, read in).
It is forbidden to carry out the procedure with your hands, tearing off or twisting the tops. Must use sharp knife and do not leave even small cuttings. By cutting off the top part of the carrot, the growth points are muffled, germination is stopped, and the original properties and taste are preserved.
How to carry out the procedure correctly?
- Trimming the main green mass. It is necessary to leave a small tubercle, cutting off the tops slightly above the upper edge of the fruit.
- Dry the carrots in the sun for 24 hours.
- Cut 2-4 mm from the head of the root crop. If there are ring cracks or other lesions on the surface, you need to cut off from 5 mm to 1-2 cm.
- Removing the root part - the tails, since this is where decay begins. The root must be cut off in the place where the diameter of the tail is 5 mm or less.
Further steps - laying carrots in one layer on plastic film on the ground, dry in the sun for 2-3 hours. During this period, the cut areas will be covered with a protective crust, which will improve the quality of storage. After this, the fruits are placed in a cool place for a day and only then lowered.
You can also learn about preparing carrots for storage for the winter from.
Photo
Below are photos of examples of how to trim carrots: 
Winter storage methods
High-quality preservation of the root crop is ensured by placing it in sand or sawdust, plastic bags or boxes with clay. The simplest is storage in the basement in wooden boxes with a lid. You need to place the containers at a distance of 10-15 cm from the walls, as the walls may become damp, which will affect the carrots. Containers should be placed on shelves or low stands. No more than 20 kg of fruit should be placed in 1 box.
What kind of filler should I put in the box?
- .
The material contains phenol, which will prevent rot and other diseases. The carrots are placed in a box and sprinkled with sawdust.
- .
Root vegetables should be laid out on a thick sandy cushion (cover a shelf or the bottom of a box). Each new layer must be refilled with sand. You need to use slightly moistened sand.
- Chalk solution.
Chalk must be diluted with water to a homogeneous consistency. Dip each carrot in the solution, put it in boxes and store it.
- Slurry.
It's dirty but effective method. Suitable for those cellars in which root crops often rot and spoil. From clay and water you need to make a mash - a stretchy mass. Dip carrots into the solution and dry. The clay should completely cover the fruit. After drying, put the carrots in boxes or baskets and lower them into the basement.
- .
Dry root vegetables should be folded into tight bags and lowered into the cellar, placed on the floor on protective stands. Make several holes at the bottom of the bags to allow condensation to escape. Do not close or tie the bag.
What if something went wrong?
Throughout the entire period, it is important to ensure that it does not rot, does not grow, or lose its taste and marketable properties. Of the physical processes, the most high risk carries moisture evaporation. Carrots have a thin peel and contain many colloids - this affects intense moisture loss. Among possible results– reduction in weight, withering, loss of marketable qualities.
To prevent such changes, it is important to ensure good air exchange and constant temperature. If rotting is detected, the affected fruits should be thrown away, and the rotting area and adjacent root crops should be sprinkled with slaked lime or chalk. In case of mass rotting, all carrots need to be sorted out and sold (used) as soon as possible.
Primary processing of carrots before storage is cleaning, correct pruning tops and drying. At the time of harvesting, it is necessary to cull damaged vegetables. After trimming the greens, you need to wait until a dry crust forms at the cut site and only then lower the carrots into the cellar.
The final result depends on the chosen technology:
- clay and sawdust will help preserve the fruits until the next harvest;
- moistened sand – 7-8 months;
- ordinary wooden containers without filler – 4-7 months;
- plastic bags – 3-6 months.
Regular inspection of the crop, removal of damaged fruits and trimming of overgrown tops in the basement will extend the life and improve the quality. It is important to consider that the condition of the tops plays a decisive role during storage. How larger size the hemp left, the faster the root crop will begin to germinate.
ATTENTION! The only undesirable neighbor for root vegetables is the apple. The fruit releases ethylene, which affects the taste of carrots.
If the basement freezes, boxes with carrots need to be additionally covered with felt. or any other thermal insulation material. It is advisable to use small and thin fruits first, as they dry faster. Larger carrots the right approach will last until spring and summer. Be sure to isolate vegetables from direct sunlight and moisture.
Trimming carrots before storing them for the winter is a mandatory procedure. The final period and quality of storage of the crop depends on the quality of its implementation. You need to cut the tops with a sharp knife or scissors, leaving no growth points or stumps. Root crops should only be lowered into the basement after the cut areas have been covered with a protective film.
Carrots are a root vegetable rich in vitamins and easy to grow. Not only the vegetable itself has beneficial properties, but also its tops. But do they cut off the tops of carrots at all? Is it possible to trim the tops of carrots while the vegetable is growing? And when can you trim the tops of carrots? Let's find answers to these questions.
In front of everyone beneficial properties green root vegetable, you need to eat it carefully. If you are allergic to carrots or essential oils contained in its stems and leaves, stomach ulcers or inflammation of the large intestine, it is better to refrain from adding carrot “tops” to your diet. It is not recommended to consume these greens for pregnant women, as they increase the tone of the uterus and can cause miscarriage.
Is it possible to cut off the tops of carrots while they are still growing? It is not recommended to trim carrots while they are growing. Like the greens of any plant, carrot tops are involved in the process of photosynthesis. If you cut off the green stems before harvest, the carrots will stop growing and simply rot in the ground. Also, root vegetables with greens cut before ripeness lose their taste qualities and ceases to be saturated with useful microelements. If you notice that a vegetable is larger than its neighbors, you should not panic and try to cut everything off to reduce the growth rate - large tops will not have a bad effect on carrots, but cutting them can only do harm.
When to cut
When can you cut carrot tops? When you prepare a root vegetable for storage for the winter, cutting off its stems is not only possible, but necessary. If they are left, the rotting process will begin very quickly. Without stems, cut correctly on the day of harvest, the root crop itself will be stored longer, and it will better retain its taste. Are carrot tops cut in advance while they are still unharvested and in the ground?
Some gardeners begin trimming green leaves about a week before harvest, but it is better to leave everything as it is until harvest. Carrots, being in the ground without greenery, begin to grow it again. If you use a vegetable directly from the garden throughout the season and do not plan to store it, then it is not necessary to follow the pruning rules in this case.
Pruning rules
Pruning of greenery is carried out on the same day as the harvest. Before cutting, vegetables are dried and cleared of soil. If you are cutting greens with the root top, use a well-sharpened knife so that no stems remain on the surface, and apply chalk to the cut. The petioles left behind may begin to sprout and the harvest will be ruined.
Trimmed and prepared vegetables are stored in the cellar, stacked in boxes in layers with some space between each vegetable, and filling each layer with sand. Descent harvested into the cellar occurs only two weeks after collection. This way the skin will become quite rough, and during this time all the spoiled and unsuitable root vegetables will reveal themselves.
Cut tops can be used in cooking, dried or frozen for the winter. Some people use the branches for pickling and preservation. It does not keep in the refrigerator for long and dries out after a couple of days, so fresh it is used immediately. IN plastic bags everything will wither even faster, so if you put aside the cut tops with plans to use them in soup or salad, it’s better to just tie them in a loose bunch. More mature greens will be bitter, but in combination with pepper, vinegar, ginger and garlic there will be much less bitterness.
For storage, choose only whole leaves that are not yellowed, limp or slimy, and free of mold. Drying the tops in the sun is not recommended. You can store it both in glass containers and in canvas bags. The storage area should be dark and room temperature. You can freeze it as plastic containers, and in plastic bags.
Video “Recipes for treating carrot tops”
In this video you will hear useful tips on the use of carrot tops.
Thanks to the large amount of microelements and vitamins contained in carrots, they are deservedly popular with most farmers who grow their own vegetables. To final product was safe for human health, it is advisable not to use strong chemicals to treat the area or feed plants. To do this, we will talk about some of the features of growing carrots on the site, how they are harvested, processed, and when carrot tops are cut.
In general, carrots are a fairly unpretentious vegetable that is accepted almost everywhere. However, you should pay attention to a number of features. It is advisable to take them into account when growing this root crop, since only in this case will it be possible to achieve a good harvest.
First of all, you should pay attention to the quality of the soil in which you will plant carrots. Loamy and sandy loam soil is preferred.
If you have a clay type of soil, you will need to structure it. To do this, it is best to use sand and organic components (for example, compost, humus), which will need to be added to the soil. When you mix all the components in equal proportions you get good basis for growing carrots. There are other features that can significantly affect the volume of the harvest obtained.
Do not forget that it is advisable to plant vegetables on neutral soil or with a high alkali content. An acidity level higher than permissible will not allow obtaining quality product at the end of the season, and the root vegetables themselves will lose their taste.
If the soil on the site has increased level acidic substances, then neutralization must be done. Typically, chalk or lime is used for this purpose. In spring, it is better to do this using chalk at a rate of about 1 kilogram per 3-4 square meters.
When planting, you can use soil fertilizer. This is usually used wood ash. It is poured into the furrow, where carrot seeds are then thrown. The soil should also include organic amendments. To enrich the land with such components, farmers usually use manure from herbivores, bird droppings, compost, mulching.
In the future, it is necessary to water the soil in a timely manner, since carrots do not tolerate dry periods well. If you don’t water the crop enough, the roots will gradually begin to crack.
Also, before planting, carefully read the characteristics of the carrot variety. They will differ in taste, size of root crops, resistance to diseases and pests, as well as a number of other features.
For good growth and development of root crops, sufficiently warm conditions and good lighting. It is not advisable to grow crops in shady areas. In the presence of favorable conditions You can achieve the appearance of the first shoots within 3 weeks. To speed up the process, you can use polyethylene covering land plot to better warm the soil.
Insufficient care can lead to the fact that the fruits acquire some deviations - external defects, cracking, and weak plants simply die. Unpretentiousness vegetable crop does not mean that you can not devote any time to growing it.
To increase productivity, it is advisable to periodically loosen the soil so that water can better pass to the horse system.
Thinning of the seed may also be necessary, as carrots are sown unevenly. When seedlings appear, it will be possible to understand in which areas there are many entrances. This must be done so that the root crops do not interfere with each other’s growth.
In the future, thinning can slow down the growth process, so it is advisable to do this early stages. Optimal distance between the fruits can be considered about 5 centimeters.
Video “How to grow productive carrots in high beds”
Cleaning
Harvesting time usually depends on the carrot variety. Early-ripening varieties of vegetables are usually harvested at the end of July, mid-ripening and late-ripening in September. It is advisable to do everything before the onset of seasonal cold snaps or frosts (depending on the planting area).
It is best to carry out cleaning in dry weather. For digging, use a pitchfork or bayonet shovel. After digging, you will need to dry the root vegetables well in the shade. Before this, the carrot tops are trimmed with garden shears or pruning shears. It is necessary to trim the tops so that they do not draw nutrients from the root crop that have accumulated during the growth process.
Be careful not to damage the carrot skin during harvesting. Otherwise, they will not be able to be stored in the cellar for a long time, but will begin to deteriorate. If this happens, then you can select the damaged fruits and use them for food in the near future. The rest of the crop, after drying, will need to be transferred to a cool, dry place.
Best used for styling wooden boxes, pouring layers of sand over the carrots. This will protect the crop from sunlight and direct moisture. The use of sand for storing carrots has proven itself, and has already long time used by most farmers.
Treatment
Carrot processing usually involves adding special means to protect the crop from various diseases, pathogenic microflora, as well as from harmful insects.
For control, it is customary to use ammonia-containing preparations, “Bazudin”, “Aktaru”, “Medvetox”, and special fungicides.
After identifying the cause that affects root crops, a special type of targeted agent is selected. It is advisable to carry out treatment immediately after detecting the first signs of disease or the appearance of insects (flies, mole crickets, leaf fleas and others).
Tops trimming
Many novice gardeners are interested in the question of whether it is possible to trim carrot tops during the last stage of ripening of the vegetable. The fact is that even at this time, saturation with useful microelements and vitamins continues.
For this, the vegetable requires the process of photosynthesis, and without green leaves and stems this is not possible. For this reason, the tops should not be trimmed until the carrots have finished growing. If you cut it off earlier, the growth of carrots will stop. If you don’t dig it up right away, it will simply rot in the ground.
Carrot tops are trimmed only after digging up the root crops. This way they will be stored much longer.
Video “Here are the carrots! How to achieve a harvest"
The video details ways to achieve maximum yield when growing carrots.
How to prepare carrots for winter storage? The carrots must be harvested on time, that is until the first frost. Weeding before harvesting is done if the bed is heavily overgrown with weeds. An unripe vegetable is not as healthy as fully ripe. And overexposure to it in the garden is fraught with excessive accumulation of sugars and it is also more often exposed to attacks by mice and insects.
Read about it on our website. When harvesting carrots sort by the size of root crops and their damage.
Looking around every carrot for rot and the presence of holes in it from the introduction of harmful insects.
Root crops are dug up with a shovel and carefully. Removing soil particles from them by hitting each other leads to cracking. How to properly trim carrots for winter storage?
The tops are cut to the head of the vegetable, and twice. The first time its leaves are removed, and the second time it is cut below the upper edge of the head. by 1 cm. This will prevent germination in winter and wilting.
How to trim carrots for storage - photo:
How to properly trim beets and carrots for storage? The carrots intended for seeds, the tops are left long up to 2 cm. You can wash the root crop only if its head is heavily contaminated with wet soil. When digging it out of sandy soil, just shake off the dirt. Read more on our website.
Is it possible to wash carrots for storage for the winter? Carrot washing is done on harvest day warm water without soap or other substances, then it is dried before being placed on winter storage in air under a canopy and then maintained at a temperature from 10 to 14 degrees Celsius heat. The carrots remain in this “quarantine” for 7 to 10 days, depending on air humidity. After it, it is again sorted by the presence of damage.
How to trim carrot tops for storage? An experienced gardener will share her method of preparing carrots for storage with you in this video:
Processing methods
How to process carrots for storage? Do I need to wash carrots before storing them? There are several ways to store carrots. Before this, the vegetable is processed potassium permanganate solution.
White rot, which affects fruits, spreads quickly when they are stored in one container, this differs from black rot, which is not transmitted from root crop to root crop.
Treatment of pure carrots with potassium permanganate is carried out in large capacity(basin or bath). Getting ready dark purple solution and poured onto the vegetables placed there. The exposure lasts up to 2 hours, then the carrots are removed and dried on thick fabric or tarpaulin.
This method of treatment is only effective against damage to root crops by white rot and pests. Possibility of fruit spoilage black rot remains. The procedure for processing carrots before storing them for winter storage is as follows:
Tips for preparing root vegetables for storage in this video:
Storage rules
How to store carrots?
Carrots intended for long-term storage need a week before harvesting. active watering. This will give it more ripeness.
The most acceptable temperature for storing washed carrots in winter - from 0 to +1 degrees Celsius. Above this limit, germination begins. In the garden, vegetables are damaged even at minus 2 degrees Celsius. You can learn about opportunities in the garden from our article.
In a storage room (cellar, basement), you can place carrots in stacks (piles) without using containers, sprinkling the rows with sand. Define sand moisture Simply squeeze it in your palm, the lump should not crumble. There are carrots in stacks heads out. Read about it on our website.
In addition to the most common garden crops, such as cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes, there are also beets. Despite everything, it is often grown in gardens. This is justified by the fact that it does not require special attention and some self-care. But you still need to know certain nuances of such cultivation, for example, the rules for pruning beets. We will talk about how to prune beets for the winter later in the article.
When pruning beets, you need to know certain nuances
Sorting
The sorting process refers exclusively to the final stage of plant preparation. Sorting is done before placing the beets for long-term storage. Typically this should be done in four separate piles. The first group includes small fruits, the second group includes medium-sized fruits, the third group includes large fruits, and the fourth group includes fruits that have some damage.
Experts note that medium-sized fruits performed quite well in storage. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to use small fruits and large ones.
How to properly trim beets for storage
We will not consider in detail how to grow beets, since this process is simple, so the most important thing when caring for it is harvesting. You need to dig up fruits from the soil with maximum responsibility and care. Quite often, a crop suffers from a shovel and quickly becomes unusable. Those species that have been damaged in this way should be used in everyday life first.
When digging beets, it is necessary to remove the roots correctly
In addition to improper extraction of roots from the soil, serious harm can be caused to the plant if beet tops are trimmed incorrectly. The greenery on the surface of the earth can be quite fluffy, or maybe quite sparse. But regardless of its type, pruning must be done correctly. Otherwise, the plant may be infected. This means that a fairly large number of pests and diseases can affect the fruit.
How to trim beets for winter storage
It is also necessary to know that for proper storage For such a crop, the greens must be cut off, leaving only a small part, which is equal to one centimeter. It is strictly forbidden to pick the tops with bare hands. As a rule, this leads to the fact that the root crop is pressed in certain places and its shelf life is significantly reduced. You need to remove the tops only with a well-sharpened knife. Such equipment must also be correct.
Trimming equipment must be correct
Requirements for a knife or pruning shears:
- the instrument must be clean;
- before direct work, the blade must be washed;
- the knife must be sharp. This is to eliminate the possibility of ragged ends.
Treatment before storage
If you want to store such a product for a long time, then before sending it for storage, the fruit must be carefully processed. First, the crop is sorted. Next you need to inspect the beet tubers. From the entire harvest, you need to select those fruits that meet the following requirements:
- the fruit must have the average size, approximately 10 cm in diameter;
- seemingly healthy;
- not damaged anywhere;
- without pronounced signs of morbidity.
Small or too large are not suitable for long-term storage
Small tubers and too large ones are not suitable for long-term storage.
When you select the necessary fruits, you need to carry out the following so-called manipulations with them:
- Dry slightly to remove excess moisture. This must be done in the sun;
- the drying process should last no more than four hours;
- Remove excess contamination.
And now your fruits are completely ready to go to the cellar. This place has it all necessary conditions for such storage. You need to understand that such a crop is difficult to grow, so you cannot make mistakes when caring for and harvesting.
Video: Pruning and storing beets
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