This is about potatoes.

[HappydaysArehere]

Please help if you can. DH puts a lot of work into providing us with potatoes. They all taste lovely. However, the late potatoes go to “mush” very quickly. I watch them carefully and one minute they are firm and the next they are going to this mashed up mush. The new potatoes are fine. He has tried different varieties, red ones, Edwards etc. They all behave the same! Has anyone a solution? If so would be very interested.

How are you storing them?

Do you harden the potatoes off like the do commercial ones? It means killing the plant above ground, leave the dead plant a few weeks, then lift them. They grow a thicker skin in meantime with dead tops.

I dunno if home-gardeners can actually do all that. But it's roughly what commercial growers do so that the spuds can store all winter.

Mattberry, my husband digs them up, washes them outside, puts them in one of the wide saucer type things that plant pots usually sit in, to dry. Then he brings them in or puts them in a shed until I need them. When I get them and they are dry I put them in a thickish paper carrier bag and leave them in a spare, usually unheated room.
IIijkk, that is very interesting. I have asked him and he says he hasn’t tried that. He digs up earlies when they are big enough and doesn’t necessarily wait for the tops to die but the older ones because they stay in the ground longer have dead tops. He digs them up as we need them so what you have discovered is worth a go. He says they are all dug up for this year so are stored in a shed. My only problem is with the old potatoes as the new ones stay firm and are lovely. Next year he will try out your idea. Thank you both for replying.

I wouldn't wash them. I work in a walled garden and we leave them in the ground for a bit once the tops have died, then when they're ready to store we dig them up and put them in plastic crates that have lots of ventilation holes. The crates are kept in a cold, dry, dark shed with cardboard over the top to keep out any light. They last months!

Thank you Matt. Dh says he only washes them when he brings them in for me to use! However, he is just going to brush the soil off and try that. They are stored in a shed until I have them in the house when I put them in paper carrier bags. He wonders if it’s to do,with the variety but we thought Edwards and Roosters would be fine. The earlies were the Red Duke of York and a white variety which were lovely and no trouble at all. Thank you again it is very good of you to tell us what you do. My husband is really interested and we are taking note of everything that has been said.

Potatoes keep best when placed in a well-ventilated container and stored in a dry location, away from sunlight, and at temperatures between 45 and 55 degrees F. That isn’t too easy to find in most homes today but if you place them in a paper bag, cardboard box, or bowl (not in a plastic bag) and keep them in the coolest part of the kitchen or a dry part of your basement, it should help their longevity. ;)

To be honest, it may have a bit to do with the variety too - I have never liked King Edwards, as they do go a bit mushy.
I grow Marfona as a second early, -it works as a maincrop ( really good flavour, and Picasso is my favoured maincrop potato
If you find this years potatoes going mushy - just cook them as jacket potatoes, scoop them out and mash - it preserves all the flavour , no water involved :)

My dad, when harvesting maincrop potatoes would leave them on the surface for a day or two to harden the skin's. They were then bagged in Hessian sacks and stored in an outhouse. Latterly, we put them in paper sacks and stored them similarly. I never remove soil from rootcrops until I want to eat them . Unwashed roots seem to keep better.