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Key Technical Points and Detailed Methods for Cellar Storage of Sweet Potatoes

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1. Timely harvest and careful selection of seed potatoes. In our area, sweet potatoes are generally harvested in late October, around the time of Frost's Descent. Harvesting begins when the soil temperature reaches 15°C and is completed at 2°C. Harvest on a sunny morning to facilitate moisture reduction, and when putting them into the cellar, select potato tubers free from disease, injury, freezing or flooding damage. 2. Cellar treatment. Whether new or old, all cellars must be sterilized and disinfected. Lime water or a 500-fold solution of carbendazim may be sprayed on the cellar walls, or a 1% copper sulfate solution or 50-fold formaldehyde solution may be used for sealed fumigation. 3. Chemical

1. Timely harvest and careful selection of seed potatoes. In our area, sweet potatoes are generally harvested in late October, around the time of Frost's Descent. Harvesting begins when the soil temperature reaches 15°C and is completed at 2°C. Harvest on a sunny morning to facilitate moisture reduction, and when putting them into the cellar, select potato tubers free from disease, injury, freezing or flooding damage.

2. Cellar treatment. Whether new or old, all cellars must be sterilized and disinfected. Lime water or a 500-fold solution of carbendazim may be sprayed on the cellar walls, or a 1% copper sulfate solution or 50-fold formaldehyde solution may be used for sealed fumigation.

3. Chemical treatment. For fresh potatoes, use a 500-fold solution of 50% carbendazim or a sweet potato preservative to control sweet potato black rot, with a control effect of over 95%. The method is to soak the selected seed potatoes in the prepared solution for 10-15 minutes, then remove them and drain off the solution before putting them into the cellar.

4. Control the cellar temperature. Freshly stored potatoes are prone to skin damage during transport and storage, so the cellar should be closed to raise the temperature, promoting healing of skin wounds and killing some pathogens. After about 7 days of closed storage, open the cellar door to lower and release the temperature, keeping the cellar temperature stable at 11-14°C and relative humidity above 80%.

After the Beginning of Winter, as the temperature turns colder, management should focus mainly on heat preservation and cold protection. First, do not store too much; keep it at about 3/4 of the cellar's total storage capacity. Second, thicken the wall soil and cover the potato pile with rice straw, wheat straw, etc. Ensure the cellar temperature remains within the range of 11-14°C.

After the Beginning of Spring, as the temperature turns warmer, management should focus mainly on ventilation and cooling. Open the cellar door at noon on windless sunny days for ventilation and air exchange, strictly preventing a rise in cellar temperature from causing the spread of disease and rotting of the sweet potatoes.

Through the above technical measures, seed potatoes can safely overwinter, with a sound rate of over 97%.

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