Long term potato storage in less than ideal conditions is something that most gardeners have to figure out. Gardeners come up with ingenious places to store the potato harvest such as the upstairs pantry, a cold corner in the garage, under the house, and many other inventive solutions. But unfortunately before too long the potato has started to sprout and shrivel. Try as we might, long term storage is short lived. More often than not though, contributing to this lack of storage ability is the variety of potato being grown. Some potatoes just store better than others. So in 2023 I started a potato trial to see if I could come up with potato varieties that will store in my less than ideal conditions whilst maintaining flavor, texture and decent production. Read on for the results of the 2024 Potato trials.
The Potato Trials - Context
Like many gardeners, I struggle to find suitable locations to store the potato harvest each year. Being that potatoes are a staple in my diet, rather than trying to develop an ideal storage environment as identified by the University of California article Proper Environment for Potato Storage with humidity being 90 - 95% and temperatures in the 60 - 65 F (15.5 - 18 C) range for wound healing and 38 - 45 F (3 - 7 C) for storage, depending on end use. They do talk about warming the potatoes to 50 - 55 F (10 - 12.7 C) for use as cold stored potatoes are brittle and can bruise easily. Granted, this article was written with the commercial industry in mind but it contains some insight in what I need to have for storage longevity. And unless I were to build something, I don't have these storage conditions.
Currently for storing my potatoes I have a sand floor cellar that is completely dark and maintains a temperature of around 19.2 C (66.56 F) with 32% humidity. Not ideal, but it's what I have.
In 2023 I decided that perhaps rather than trying to supply the ideal conditions, perhaps there are varieties out there that will store better than the varieties I have planted for years. Namely, Red Norland, Purple Viking and Netted gem, a pre 1995 version of the Russet. Searching the web I found a Canadian company, Earth Apples, that sold seed potatoes. As I articled in The Potato Trial - In Search of a New Potato Variety that Works for Me I selected two varieties from their selection to trial, the Purple Magic and the Red Ammalie. Although both produced well, the Red Ammalie barely made Christmas before they were too soft to do anything with. I did enjoy them as a pan fry potato but mine were just too small to bother peeling for any other use. However, the Purple Magic which was covered in a mild case of potato scab, stored well with the larger potatoes storing much better. Interestingly, it was the only variety that had scab. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor of this potato and with the added bonus of it being an antioxidant source it seemed like it should be trialed again in 2024. However, the Red Ammalie did not make the cut.
Not wanting to purchase the Purple Magic again, I decided that I would use the potatoes with the least amount of potato scab as a seed source in 2024. But what to add to the trial. Again I visited Earth Apples and selected a couple other varieties to trial. With my criteria of storage ability, production, texture and uniqueness in mind, I decided on:
- Melody - an indeterminate great container or garden variety that matures in 100 - 110 days. Yellow mealy flesh that makes it good for boiling, mashing and baking. Excellent long term storage of 7 months at 6 C (42.8 F);
- Rosemarie - an indeterminate fingerling that grows well in pots, containers and in the garden maturing at 80 - 90 days. Pink flesh that is described as having a moist waxy texture with a buttery, slightly tart, taste that makes it ideal for oven roasting, boiling or steaming. Will keep for 4 months at 6 C (42.8 F);
- Alaska Bloom - an indeterminate variety that produces large evenly round potatoes with high yields in 90 -105 days. It is described as having a moist, slightly waxy texture with a subtle sweeter taste. It works well for boiling, baking, scalloped or for home-made hash browns. Will store for 5 months at 6 C (42.8 F);
- Lady Amarilla - an indeterminate variety that produces longer elongated potatoes in 90 - 105 days. This yellow fleshed variety is excellent for making home-made fries and chips. Even after long term storage, the frying qualities will remain consistent and produce good quality fries. It's floury texture makes it good for baked potatoes as well. Will store for 7 months at 6 C (42.8 F).
The Potato Trials - Planting
With the four new varieties, the Purple Magic and my three tried and true varieties in hand I set to get them planted. Planting in a similar location to the previous year, I ended up planting 138 hills broken down as follows:
- 36 hills of netted Gems;
- 20 hills of Red Norland;
- 10 hills of Purple Magic;
- 26 hills of Purple Viking;
- 10 hills of Rosemarie;
- 12 hills of Melody;
- 12 hills of Alaska Bloom;
- 12 hills of Lady Amarilla.
I also decided that I would try growing some Purple Magic in a container. Being that it is an indeterminate variety, the theory is that as the plant grows, I would hill the plants by adding soil to the container.
As I covered in Does Gardening Save Me Money - A Year In Review - 2024 Edition I never got my garden planted until June 28. Of the 138 hills planted, only 130 came up, Red Norland and Purple Viking accounting for the lack of sprouting. I suppose it is possible that being both of these were from my own seed that the seed was less than ideal. But regardless, by August 1 the ones that did come up were looking good.
With deep over head watering from the dug out, which I discussed in Rainwater collection - essential water for use on the homestead, the potato patch and the garden as a whole responded well. By August 16 things were looking fantastic.
With minimal weeding due to the closeness that I plant my rows and the fact that the potatoes were hilled a couple times, the patch continued to excel. As I discussed in The Potato - Are Potatoes indeterminate or determinate?, potatoes can either be indeterminate or determinate depending on the variety. Being that indeterminate benefit greatly from hilling, ensuring I get this done adds to the success whilst also reducing weed pressure. Hilling is the process of mounding dirt around the plant so as to cover the stems of the plant which will therefore encourage rooting of the stems and therefore create more potatoes. It also prevents sunscald of the potatoes which will cause any sun exposed surfaces to go green. It is recommended that these green spots not be eaten. Although prevention is best, if green spots occur, simply cutting out the green parts will render the unaffected parts useable.
The Potato Trials - Harvest and storage
As I mentioned in The Potato Trial - In Search of a New Potato Variety that Works for Me, I do prefer to leave root crops in the garden as long as possible as it starts the winter storage later. However, for the potatoes I prefer that they get hit by a frost. The frost kills the tops and then the potatoes can cure in the ground whilst keeping cooler in the fall weather. I do run the risk of having to harvest in the snow if I wait too long. And I have been caught before.
We had our first frost in 2024 around the middle of September and so the potato tops were all but dead. Coupled with lack of excess moisture, the potatoes were able to stay in the ground until the afternoon of October 14. With it being drier and my loose sandier type soil, I was able to dig them with my hands and simply leave them lay on the ground for a couple hours to dry fully.
Digging potatoes is one of my favorite things because you just never know what you are going to get. And this year was no exception. Although the majority of the hills did decently, because some of the hills on the south side of the patch got covered by squash vines they did not produce as well. These reduced yield hills were primarily my tried and true varieties, the Netted Gem and Purple Viking and are reflected in the comparative weights of the other varieties. Once dried, I gathered the potatoes and weighed each bucket of potatoes gathered. The results are as follows:
- Rosemarie won the ribbon for most potatoes per hill at 25 - 50 spuds per hill. The average yield was 880 g (1.9 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 10 hills of 8,800 grams (19.4 pounds);
- Lady Amarilla had 10 -25 spuds per hill with an average yield of 1633.3 g (3.6 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 12 hills of 19,600 grams(43.2 pounds);
- Melody had about 10 spuds per hill with an average yield of 1,260 g (2.8 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 10 hills of 12,600 grams (27.8 pounds);
- Alaska Bloom had about 15 spuds per hill with an average yield of a whopping 2,533.3 g (5.6 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 12 hills of 30,399.6 grams (67 pounds);
- Red Norland yielded 894.1 g (2 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 17 hills of 15,199.7 grams (33.5 pounds);
- Netted Gems which are great storage spuds and typically yield well, only yielded 925 g (2.03 pounds) per hill with a total harvest from 40 hills of 37,000 grams (81.6 pounds);
- Purple Viking which also typically yields well, only produced 318.75 g (0.7 pounds) per hill for a total harvest from 32 hills of 10,200 grams (22.5 pounds);
- Purple Magic yielded 1,133.3 grams (2.5 pounds) per hill with a total harvest from 9 hills of 10,199.7 grams (22.5 pounds). Interestingly though, as I mentioned earlier, although the seed had some scab, when I harvested the potatoes there was absolutely no Potato Scab present. They were beautiful. This makes me question that the teachings about it being a soil born disease are not entirely factual. But rather, it is related more to how “rich” the soil is;
- What I found interesting was that 4 volunteer netted gems that were either missed last year or sprouted from peelings yielded 2,000 g (4.4 pounds) per hill;
- The container grown potatoes were not a success as I was not able to keep them watered sufficiently and although the tops looked decent, there was next to nothing under ground. They were also clear of potato scab. Despite the dismal return, I will try again in 2025.
All in all, I was pretty happy with the yields despite only 130 hills producing. In total I was able to harvest 144,000 grams (317.5 pounds). By the end of the day, after only knocking off the loose dirt, they were all in the cellar where they were to spend the next months in storage.
The Potato Trials - Storage results
Like many, my potato storage is less than ideal at a 19.2 C (66.56 F) temperature and an average 32% humidity. Normally, I will turn a fan on the bins for a few weeks after they are put in the cellar, but this year due to excess moisture from the water heater blowing up and black mold developing as a result, I left the fan blowing on them all winter. In hindsight, this was a mistake as I found that even my tried and true varieties were shriveling faster than normal due to surface moisture removal on the potatoes. I was essentially dehydrating them. But despite this faux pas, I was pretty happy with how the various varieties held out in storage. As expected though, the Red Norland and Rosemarie were pretty much shriveled and unusable by Christmas time. However, they will work for seed should I decide to plant in the spring of 2025.
My cellar is certainly not ideal but with it's sand floor and complete dark, these conditions help to curtail the chitting, AKA sprouting, that typically occurs in warmer type storage conditions. By January I typically have some sprouts happening, but nothing to be concerned about by January 5, 2025.
One of things I like to do with excess potatoes is to can them. Being that I had all the new varieties and they were still in good shape, I decided to can some of them up to see how they did. I was quite happy with the results. The jar on the left is a combination of Lady Amarilla and Melody. The right jar is Alaska Bloom. I did not try canning the Rosemarie as they were too small to peel. I was happy to see that the three varieties passed this part of the test.
As the main focus of this trial was for storage, weeks went by and I continued to enjoy the potatoes. The mix of potato varieties was interesting. Although both yellow fleshed varieties were nice, I preferred the Lady Amarilla to the Melody when fried. For a boiled potato, the Alaska Bloom made a nice creamy mashed potato and certainly held better in the boiling pot than the Purple Magic and yellow fleshed varieties. The Rosemarie were consumed quickly as I figured they would not store and I quite enjoyed them boiled and fried. Overall, I was impressed with how the new potatoes were storing up until early 2025. As for the tried and true varieties, as expected, the Red Norland were shriveling and starting to sprout whilst the Netted Gems were maintaining their firmness with little to no sprouting.
A few months later, some of the varieties had started to soften and the sprouts had lengthened. But as this picture taken on March 2, 2025, 139 days from harvest, illustrates, the spuds are certainly doing well. In order from left to right, we have a Rosemarie, Norland, Purple Viking, Purple Magic, Alaska Bloom, Melody, Lady Amarilla and Netted Gem.
As the days in a relatively warm storage (19 C or 66.2 F) with increased air flow from the fan continued, the potatoes really started to suffer. However, the netted gems seemed to suffer the least as this picture from May 25, 2025, 223 days from harvest, illustrates. The Melody variety in this picture, although chitted, is doing well too although there is a dark line starting to show. Both are still perfectly edible.
But as expected, as I got closer to spring planting, things continued to go down hill, more so with some of the newer varieties like the Alaska Bloom and Lady Amarilla varieties being compared in this picture taken on June 1, 2025, 230 days post harvest. The Alaska bloom is certainly doing better than the Lady Amarilla as the wrinkles and flesh will attest but this may be due in part to the size difference in the potatoes too. Still edible though.
And on the same day, the Purple Magic and Purple Viking are doing about the same for quality of flesh. However, the Purple Magic have certainly sprouted more.
As of June 14, 2025, 243 days or 8 months post harvest, although all the potatoes have reached a stage of storage where wrinkling due to evaporation and normal degradation have made peeling more difficult, the flesh has maintained well and can certainly be eaten. Despite the potato bin turning into a mass of shoots and shriveled potatoes, I could certainly find some to eat. It is a good thing it is time to plant the 2025 potato patch.
The Potato Trials - What's new for 2025
As you have likely determined, I am late to planting my garden but I am hopeful to get it in the ground this week, middle of June. But what to plant for this year?
When I trial new varieties, I prefer to give it a couple goes before declaring it a pass or fail. The potatoes are no exception. However, certain traits of a variety will remove it from the trial on the first go. The fact that the Rosemarie variety did not make it much past Christmas without sprouting or shriveling is one of the traits that will remove it from the planting list for 2025. In fairness, the claim is that it will keep for 3 to 4 months at 6 C (42.8 F) so I didn't hold out much hope for it's storage in my less than ideal conditions.
With the remaining varieties trialed in 2024 I will be planting them again to see how they do on the second year. I also did not put them through what I felt was a great test for flavor and usability in the kitchen, so I want to trial them again in hopes of using them differently in the winter 2025/2026 kitchen. I also plan to not have the fan blowing on them all winter to see if that makes a different with length of storage.
For the 2025 garden year, I will be planting Red Norland, Purple Viking, Netted Gem, Alaska Bloom, Lady Amarila, Purple Magic and Melody.
But I can't stop here. As I will not be planting the Rosemarie variety, I decided to replace it with another variety from Earth Apples. I decided to add Pink Gypsy to the 2025 trial. With it's slightly floury flesh texture, the Pink Gypsy is stated to be “considered a general purpose cooking variety best suited for boiling, baking, roasting and mashing.”. It is claimed to store for approximately 6 months at 6C (42.8 F). As an added bonus, with it's unique markings it will be a fun surprise when I dig them.
You might be asking though, if storage is my criteria for this trial, why do I continue to plant the Red Norland when I know, and have shown, that they don't store well for me. Well the answer is simple, early potatoes. After all, there is nothing better than a feed of new potatoes.
As for the other varieties, as I always do, I will be using my own seed yet again. It is a good thing I had selected some seed potatoes back in March and stored them in complete darkness (I don't always do this) as they have barely chitted. However, the Rosemarie at the bottom of the picture certainly did not benefit from this treatment. Good thing I am not planting them this year.
The Potato Trials - Final Thoughts
I suppose one could say that a successful storage of potatoes is subjective. For some, less than perfect, shriveled up potatoes only have one use and that is compost. While others, like me, would say that as long as the flesh has not started to turn black, a normal process in potato degradation, the potato is fine to cook up. Granted, I would like a firmer potato at the end of winter as well, and thus the reason for the trial, but food security is more important than perfection.
The question still remains, is there a variety out there to compete with my tried and true varieties? Although I am impressed with the Arctic Bloom, Melody and Lady Amarilla reasonable storage ability, they have not out done the Netted Gem. But not everyone likes a drier, starchier potato either. And how much one enjoys eating the variety is part of it too. I know I quite enjoyed the various unique texture and flavor profiles that each of the potatoes provided.
Although the Alaska Bloom was claimed to only store for 5 months I found it interesting that when compared to the Lady Amarilla and Melody varieties, which claimed 7 month storage, it actually stored as well.
Overall, I am please with how the Alaska Bloom, Lady Amarilla and Melody performed in storage. They certainly provided a nice variation to the supper plate. I look forward to trialing them again in 2025.
What varieties do you find store well in your less than ideal storage conditions?
I hope you found the Potato Trials interesting and that it helps you to realize that you do not have to have the perfect conditions for potato storage. I would encourage you to make do with what you have. I would also suggest that although they may not keep their perfect condition, they also don't have to be perfect to consume. If you enjoyed this blog, please consider joining the My Boreal Homestead Life community. By supplying your email address at the bottom of the page and hitting "sign up" or by clicking Join the community, you will ensure you get an email notification when I post new blogs to the My Boreal Homestead Life site.
Thank you for joining me on the front porch of My Boreal Homestead Life as we explore this Homegrown, Homestead life, In a Modern World.
Additional Resources
- The Prairie Homestead - Digging Up and Storing Potatoes for Winter
- Homesteading Family - When to Harvest Potatoes
- The Kitchn - We Tried 7 Ways of Storing Potatoes and the Winner Outlasted Them All for Months
- Zone 3 Vegetable Gardening - The Ultimate Guide to Harvesting, Curing & Storing Potatoes
