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Why can't sweet potatoes and potatoes be stored together?

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Sweet potatoes cannot be stored together with potatoes for two reasons: the required temperature during cellar storage differs. Sweet potatoes are a heat-loving crop, planted in the high-temperature summer and early autumn, and the optimal temperature during cellar storage is 10°C~15°C. If the temperature is too low, they suffer chilling injury, and in severe cases develop "hard core" rot. Potatoes are a cold-loving crop, planted in the low-temperature early spring and late autumn, and the optimal temperature during cellar storage is 1°C~5°C. If the temperature is too high, they sprout, turn green, become toxic and are unfit to eat. The ventilation and light requirements during cellar storage differ. Sweet potatoes are stored as tuberous roots, and during winter storage their respiration is weak and their oxygen requirement is very small; they can safely overwinter under dark, unventilated, low-oxygen conditions. Potatoes are different: they are stored as tubers, and during winter storage they not only need a certain amount of scattered light but also must have sufficient oxygen. If oxygen is lacking, potatoes are forced to carry out anaerobic respiration, and because of alcohol poisoning the tubers "sweat", leading to rot. Therefore, winter storage requires good ventilation and a moderate degree of light transmission.

Sweet potatoes cannot be stored together with potatoes for two reasons:

The required temperature during cellar storage differs. Sweet potatoes are a heat-loving crop, planted in the high-temperature summer and early autumn, and the optimal temperature during cellar storage is 10°C~15°C. If the temperature is too low, they suffer chilling injury, and in severe cases develop "hard core" rot. Potatoes are a cold-loving crop, planted in the low-temperature early spring and late autumn, and the optimal temperature during cellar storage is 1°C~5°C. If the temperature is too high, they sprout, turn green, become toxic and are unfit to eat.

The ventilation and light requirements during cellar storage differ. Sweet potatoes are stored as tuberous roots, and during winter storage their respiration is weak and their oxygen requirement is very small; they can safely overwinter under dark, unventilated, low-oxygen conditions. Potatoes are different: they are stored as tubers, and during winter storage they not only need a certain amount of scattered light but also must have sufficient oxygen. If oxygen is lacking, potatoes are forced to carry out anaerobic respiration, and because of alcohol poisoning the tubers "sweat", leading to rot. Therefore, winter storage requires good ventilation and a moderate degree of light transmission.

According to the physiological characteristics of sweet potatoes and potatoes during storage, if the two are cellared together, it is impossible in terms of management to satisfy the temperature, light and oxygen needs of both at the same time. The result is either that the potatoes sprout and become toxic, or that the sweet potatoes develop "hard core", so the two must never be stored together in the same cellar.

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