An important point in the safety of the crop: is it necessary to wash the carrots before storing for the winter?
All vegetables and root crops after harvesting from the garden need to be properly prepared for storage.
They are sorted out, removing damaged and diseased specimens, dried, cleaned of adhered earth.
Do carrots need to be washed before storing them for the winter? What are the pros and cons of this procedure, described in the article.
Content
Is the vegetable washed, what does washing affect?
It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. The feasibility of washing the root crop depends on several factors:
- the degree of contamination of carrots;
- the volume of the harvested crop (if it is calculated in hundreds of kilograms, washing the vegetable will entail additional costs);
- availability of space for drying the washed crop.
If the crop is harvested on warm, fine days, the carrots remain practically uncontaminated and do not need additional cleaning. It is enough to sort it out, dry it and send it for storage. Minor soil particles will fall off on their own.
If the fall is rainy, then the roots are removed from the soil contaminated... It is impossible to assess the quality of carrots if they are covered with clods of earth. It is easy to pass diseased root vegetables into storage, where they become a source of contamination for healthy vegetables.
Pathogens and pests can persist in the ground adhering to the root crop. During storage, they become active and attack vegetables that come into contact with the ground.
Pros and Cons of Keeping Washed Root Vegetables
The obvious advantages of wet cleaning of root crops before harvesting in storage:
- traces of damage and disease are visible on the cleaned surface of vegetables;
- spores of fungi and pests do not enter the storage together with the earth;
- clean carrots have an attractive presentation;
- it is easier to peel before eating.
Washed, dried carrots last longer and better than dirty ones. Residual soil adhering to the root vegetable prevents the skin from "breathing", causing premature deterioration. A storage with clean root vegetables maintains a healthy atmosphere and it is easier to maintain the required humidity.
The main disadvantage of washing the carrot crop before storage is laboriousness and time-consuming. To clean root crops, you need a lot of water, large containers for soaking.
Therefore, the owners of small garden plots, which collect several tens of kilograms, wash carrots by hand. On large farms, where the washing of vegetables is automated, all root crops undergo a wet cleaning procedure.
After washing, it is important to dry the carrots well, but not to allow the vegetable to dry out. For this, the roots are laid out on sieves and kept in air until the liquid completely drains. Errors in the washing procedure will lead to a reduction in the shelf life of the root crop.
Clean after harvest or before cellar storage?
It is more advisable to clean the roots immediately after harvesting, while the soil adhering to the fruit is soft and damp... Later, when the soil dries up and hardens, it will be more difficult to remove it from the vegetable.
Simultaneously with washing, sorting of the harvested crop is carried out. Small, sick, wireworm-infected specimens are discarded. Chopped root vegetables can be stored for a short time, or they are allowed to be processed.
If the carrot was bought already dirty, then it must be washed before being taken to the cellar. or in the refrigerator. To effectively remove dried soil, the roots are immersed in cold water and left to soak for several hours. It is impossible to rub, pick off pieces of dirt from the vegetable with sharp objects.
How to wash properly?
Root crops can be cleaned of dirt in two ways:
- Carrots covered with damp mud can be conveniently washed with a hose. The vegetables are laid out on a trellised surface to allow the water to drain quickly. The crop is watered with cold water under pressure from a hose.
As a rule, a couple of minutes of such "ablution" is enough for the earth to completely move away from root crops. You can leave the carrots on the same grates to dry. This method of washing is suitable if there is a centralized water supply on the site. It takes a lot of water to wash.
- Carrots with dried mud are immersed in buckets, vats or troughs of water. In a couple of hours, the earth dissolves and leaves the vegetables. Root vegetables are taken out of containers and lightly rinsed in a bucket of clean water. This cleaning option significantly saves water, but requires more time and labor. You have to sort out each root vegetable, immersing your hands in cold water.
How to store?
The washed carrots must be dried so that excess moisture evaporates from its surface. But it is important not to overdry, the carrots should not become flabby. The vegetable is dried at a temperature of +18 +20 degrees, in a draft under a canopy, with an air humidity of 60-65%.
Washed carrots can be stored in the cellar:
- in nets, stacked or suspended from the ceiling;
- in plastic bags with perforation;
- in wooden or plastic crates, covered with sawdust or clean straw.
Storage conditions: air temperature +2 +4 degrees, humidity 70-75%.
Clean root vegetables can be put into the refrigerator, cold storage room, kept on the balcony (with appropriate insulation).
Is it possible and how to keep unwashed?
Root crops, carrying the remains of soil, are stored in piles on the site or in heaps in the cellar... The dried carrots are laid out on a sand cushion (15 cm layer) so that the vegetables do not come into contact with each other.
Burt, which is located on the street, is additionally insulated with a layer of dry earth, up to 50 cm thick. The height of the shoulder should not exceed 1.5 m, the length is arbitrary.
Small quantities of vegetables stored in a closet, underground or balcony cellars are wrapped in newspapers or wrapping paper. If a root vegetable starts to rot, the packaging will prevent the infection from spreading to nearby vegetables. Carrots wrapped in newspaper are placed in boxes, in batches up to 5-20 kg.
Tips and bans
Root crops growing on clay and chernozem soils need mandatory washing... The sandy soil peels off the carrots easily after drying, leaving the root crop clean.
Do not expose the crop to excess moisture if you can do without washing. To extract the root crop from the ground clean, the bed is thoroughly filled with sand before sowing.
Some gardeners use the old grandfather's way of storing unwashed carrots. Prepare a clay mash from pure clay, water and chalk... Each root vegetable is immersed in the mixture as a whole (it should be the thickness of sour cream).
After drying, the clay hardens, forming a dense shell. It preserves the vegetable by preventing rotting.
When vegetables that have suffered from diseases are put into storage, they need to be additionally rid of the infection. After the main wash, the carrots are immersed in a solution of Fitosporin or potassium permanganate (pink solution). It is kept for about 30 minutes, then removed to dry.
Useful information on how to store carrots can be found in this section.
Conclusion
Whether or not to spend efforts on washing the carrots after digging or not is up to the gardener to decide. With a large crop volume, it is inappropriate to waste time on manual washing of the vegetable.
The percentage of crop loss when storing unwashed carrots does not compensate for the time spent. It makes sense for owners of small gardens to take care of the safety of each grown root crop.
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