How do you prevent sweet potatoes from rotting in storage pits? Practical new tips are here

Sweet potato is a major food crop in China, and most sweet potatoes have now been harvested. For some growers with high yields, they cannot sell them all, so after harvest they need to be stored in storage pits. However, many people find when storing sweet potatoes that they often rot, seriously affecting growing returns. So how should we store them to prevent sweet potatoes from rotting in the pit? Now let the editor introduce it to you below!

1. Select carefully

Before storage, first select the sweet potatoes to be stored well, removing frostbitten, wounded, pest- and disease-damaged, and green-headed sweet potatoes. Also, after harvest they should be put into the pit in time, but before being put into the pit the sweet potatoes should be aired for about 3h to reduce their moisture and avoid rotting caused by excessive humidity. Try to avoid storing them overnight, and it is best to treat the sweet potatoes with chemicals before storage. First soak the sweet potatoes in agents such as new high-fat film for about 8 minutes, then take them out and air-dry off the solution, which can effectively prevent the threat of pests and diseases and reduce rotting during storage.

2. Disinfect in time

A few days before harvesting the sweet potatoes, disinfect the storage pit to prevent bacteria in the pit from infecting the sweet potatoes after harvest. First, thoroughly clean the storage pit, remove debris and garbage from the pit, and try to avoid washing the pit with water. Because the temperature in the pit is low and there is no light, once wet it is very difficult to dry. If the humidity is too high, it can easily cause sweet potatoes to rot. After cleaning the pit, sprinkle quicklime powder evenly and comprehensively over the pit for disinfection, eliminating bacteria in the pit and controlling the incidence of disease.

3. Stack reasonably

When storing, observe the size of the storage pit, do not stack blindly, and do not fill the pit too full. After storage, leave about 1/3 of the pit's space to avoid stacking too full, which makes ventilation difficult and affects air exchange. Otherwise, the temperature in the pit will rise sharply, oxygen cannot be exchanged in time, and oxygen in the pit will be insufficient. If oxygen is insufficient, the sweet potatoes will produce a large amount of alcohol, seriously affecting storage. This causes alcohol poisoning in the sweet potatoes, triggers pests and diseases, and causes rotting.

4. Strengthen management

After everything is put into the pit, strengthen management of the storage pit. In the early stage of storage, be sure to do a good job of ventilation and cooling, and drainage and dehumidification. Keeping the temperature at around 12 degrees is the best storage temperature for sweet potatoes. The humidity in the pit should also be kept at around 80%, not too high or too low; if too high, it will trigger pests and diseases and cause sweet potatoes to rot. If too low, the sweet potatoes will lack internal moisture, become shriveled, and lose commercial value. If the humidity in the pit is insufficient, sprinkle a small amount of water, then in the middle and later stages pay attention to keeping warm and preventing cold, and prevent wind and snow from entering.

The above is a brief introduction to the tips for preventing sweet potatoes from rotting in storage pits. Sweet potatoes rotting in the pit is a problem many friends often encounter during storage. Therefore, everyone must do preparation work before and after storage and strengthen management to avoid unnecessary losses and impacts on economic returns. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!