Bessie Tubers... To wash or not wash? Suggestions?
If it wasn't for your gophers and voles I would suggest leaving them in the ground until they eye out in ther spring.
My parents would wash their clumps as they dug them, At the end of each digging day they took all the crates of tuber inside, in a cool basement, and covered them with plastic until they divided them. (about a month later). The washed clumps never dried out until after they divided them. It took them about a month to dig and another month to divide about 6000 clumps. It would been almost impossible to hook up a hose and wash tubers in a Montana winter.
The few years I stored volumes of tubers here I also washed as I dug the tubers. Either method works fine so you could try both methods. One big advantage we have here is we don't have to store tubers for very long compared to Northern growers.
I never wrap tubers in plastic, I just put them in ziplocks or garbage bags after they dry slightly. The most important thing is to check them after a week in storage to see how it's going. If the tubers are growing a fluffy mold they are too wet. Wipe off the mold and let them dry a bit more before putting back in storage. If the tubers are getting soft and shriveling they are too dry and need a light misting. After about a week in storage the worst fungi and bacterial rots will also become obvious so a good time to rogue them before spreading.
It's often said "There are as many ways to successfully store tubers as there are growers". If I were a new grower I would try a couple of different methods and stick with whatever worked with my environment and cultural practices.
