I know, cool dry place, and it depends on your climate, etc. But what is your experience?

  • Admiral Patrick
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    132 months ago

    I don’t think I’ve ever had them mold/rot on me (unless they were in plastic packaging). They usually start growing before that, and I’ll sometimes plant them lol.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      I actually just had my first bag of potatoes go bad on me, while others have lasted months. What is the deal with plastic packaging in this situation?

      • Admiral Patrick
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        2 months ago

        I have no idea, TBH. I’ve always bought them in bags where they could “breathe”, and those all eventually start growing (rather than rotting/going bad) if I forget about them in the pantry for too long. The only ones I’ve ever bought that were plastic-wrapped were big, baking potatoes. Maybe it keeps them from sprouting for a bit longer?

        • @[email protected]
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          22 months ago

          Eh maybe it’s a moisture thing, where locking in the moisture saturates them in their own funk? Cause yeah I’m with ya, I usually buy the mesh bags and they’ll keep until they start gaining sentience.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      32 months ago

      I’d get them in plastic, and try to cut the top side of the bag all open within a few days, and often I get through them all without problems but sometimes not.

      I do now have a plastic container I could dump them in that could be an improvement. I’ve thought of cardboard boxes but I imagine spores getting into the cardboard for the next potatoes and maybe moisture from the potatoes being a problem.

      My mother kept potatoes in a plastic container in a cabinet, but I don’t know how well they kept or how quickly we used them up.

      • Admiral Patrick
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        52 months ago

        We grew all kinds of vegetables growing up, and potatoes were one of them. We kept them in a big wooden bin in the cellar and they very rarely, if ever, rotted between seasons. Would use what was left over in the spring for planting (a lot of them were already growing by that point lol).

        Moisture is an issue. Dogs knocked their water dish over, and some of it went under the door into the pantry where a bag of potatoes was sitting. I didn’t notice it for several days, and those did rot. Rotting releases more moisture which spoils any adjacent, and so forth.

        So I guess as long as they stay cool and dry, they’re golden. Though once they start sprouting they’re less ideal to use for cooking (and difficult to peel, too).