Prevent Bruising

• A big concern during potato harvest is bruising. Stop watering potato plants as vines begin to die back, so skins have time to thicken and you can dig potatoes when the soil is dry. Ideal “digging temperature,” to minimize potato injury, is between 45 and 60 degrees F, according to University of Minnesota Extension. Also avoid nicking potatoes when digging--bruised or nicked potatoes become breeding grounds for microorganisms--and set aside damaged potatoes to eat immediately. Once potatoes are washed, “cured” and culled for shriveled or damaged tubers, packing them into well-ventilated boxes will help prevent damage during storage.
  
  

Prevent Greening

• Avoid exposing newly harvested or stored potatoes to sunlight, or even artificial light. Light exposure can cause “greening,” because potatoes are modified stems, botanically, and their cells contain chlorophyll. In addition to the color change, in green potatoes a compound called "solanine" forms, which can give potatoes a bitter taste and become toxic when eaten in large amounts. Storing potatoes in boxes prevents unwanted light exposure. But if some potatoes do go green, just trim off the green skin; the rest of the potato is fine, according to North Dakota State University.
  
  

Prevent Disease Spread

• Despite your best efforts a bruised or nicked potato may get into the mix. Once disease or rot sets in during storage, it can quickly spread to adjacent and nearby potatoes--which is why you should regularly check on potatoes while they’re in storage. By dividing up your overall crop and storing potatoes in smaller quantities, in boxes, you can limit the spread of disease.
  
  

Conserve Moisture

• To keep stored potatoes from shriveling, humidity should be reasonably high. You want not just cool air movement, but moist, cool air movement. Condensation, however, will encourage rotting, so in many situations it’s better to keep potatoes in firm boxes with good ventilation holes than in plastic bags.
  
  

Transport Ease & Safety

• Storing your potatoes in boxes makes it easier for you to move them quickly and easily whenever the need arises--whether to a colder room, to maintain cool storage temperatures, or to load into a truck market. Packed into cardboard boxes with ventilation holes and kept reasonably cool, none of your potatoes will be much worse for the wear even if they don’t all sell on market day. They can easily be returned to cold storage.