Autumn is the time of harvest. All summer residents are interested in how to save the results of their spring and summer works as long as possible. Especially hard to save such tasty and juicy, but very capricious fruits like pears.
Although pears are stored much worse than apples, but, nevertheless, save them for winter use quite possible. Let's figure out how to do it.
Space requirements
How to keep pears for the winter in the cellar? What should be the cellar or basement?
Optimal temperature
When storing pears it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature. Optimum storage temperature for pears varies. from 0 to +3 degrees Celsius. Should remember that sharp drops temperatures are detrimental to fruits and vegetables, so do not forget to regularly check the readings of the thermometer installed in the room.
Optimum humidity
No less responsible should be taken to the issue of humidity, because an excess of moisture will lead to fast rottingand in a too dry room the pears will lose their succulence and shrivel. Humidity should not exceed 90% and be less than 85%. To get rid of excess moisture will help set in the corners of the basement glasses with potassium chloride or with sulfuric acid.
How to prepare the cellar?
Start preparing for the bookmark of pears for storage should be in advance.
2-3 weeks before harvesting is necessary to hold cellar disinfection to protect the crop from rot and fungi.
You can use sulfuric smoke bomb, but you must strictly follow the instructions for use, or paint the floor, walls and ceiling of the room hydrated lime.
Do not forget about your personal safety, be sure to wear rubber gloves and a mask to protect your face.
After disinfection, the cellar closes tightly, and it is not necessary to enter it for several days. After this time, open the cellar for airing.
Fruit preparation
How to prepare pears for long-term storage in the cellar? Proper harvest - long-term deposit. In no case shake the trees, pears should be collected only by hand, it is important to keep the stalks intact.
Before laying inspect carefully each pear — whether there are any mechanical damages on them, whether they have begun to rot. Damaged pears should be kept in a separate box, and they should be eaten first.
How to store pears for the winter in the cellar? About the rules for collecting and storing pears and apples in this video:
Unwanted neighborhood
What kind of vegetables and fruits can be, and with which it is undesirable to store pears?
Fruits and vegetables are best kept. separately, because the joint storage with vegetables badly affects the smell and taste of fruit.
In addition, some fruits and vegetables, such as apples, bananas, plums, tomatoes, and pears, contain large amounts of ethylene, which speeds up the ripening process and can lead to premature deteriorationstored near products.
In order to minimize the negative effects of fruits and vegetables on each other, special attention should be paid to the issue of product compatibility. Do not store pears near potatoes, because it accelerates its germination, and the pears themselves absorb starchy taste.
Also can't store pears with carrots, cabbage and celery. But with plums, apples and peaches pears can be stored.
We remind you that apples should not be stored next to potatoes either, as they are fast lose their keeping qualitybecome soft and lose their taste.
Therefore, store pears with apples and potatoes as far as possible from each other.
But some housewives have noticed that if you put one apple in a bag of potatoes, potatoes do not germinate so quickly. Using this method, you can save potatoes longer.
Tare selection
What to store? The best solution when choosing a container for storing pears are wooden boxes with holes for air circulation. You must carefully check the boxes for sticking nails that can damage fruit.
In addition, it is better not to put the boxes close, but to leave a little free space between them. In the absence of boxes, you can place pears on low wooden shelves.
How to lay? The walls and bottom of the box are lined with several layers of thick paper, and each fruit is wrapped thin and soft paper. Pears are laid diagonally, making sure that the stalks do not touch each other and neighboring fruits.
The greenest pears should be placed in the bottom row, and more mature pears in the top one. For storage of pears can be used. sawdust or sand. The sand is pre-calcined and cooled.
In a box lined with paper, a 1-2 cm layer of sawdust or sand is poured; pears are laid out stalk up and fall asleep with sand. Then the next layer is laid out, which is also covered with sand. Note that the fruits that you stack must be dry.
Terms of savings
The storage time of a pear depends on varieties. Summer varieties of pears are the worst kept. As a rule, they retain their freshness no more than a few weeks.
However, Kappa and Williams' favorite varieties can last until early December. Autumn varieties are stored for six months, winter - about 8 months.
The shelf life also depends on the size - better stored medium or small fruit. Do not forget from time to time to look at the boxes of pears and remove rotten fruit. This will help extend their storage time.
If you are still planning to start breeding a pear orchard, then our article "Planting Pears in the Autumn Period" will help you.
On the storage period of pears of late varieties Paten, Glubokskaya, Talgar beauty and Belarussian late in this video:
Proper harvesting and selection of containers, maintaining optimal indoor conditions and proper placement of fruits - long-term deposit tasty and juicy pears. Following the simple rules described in the article, you can keep your crop as long as possible and enjoy the wonderful taste of pears, even in winter. But, if you are interested in storing pears not only fresh, then you can read more about it in the articles “Drying pears for winter at home”, “Freezing pears for winter at home” and “Drying pears for winter”
