How to Plant More Than One Type of Potato
By Carrie Terry, eHow Contributor 
updated: February 17, 2011
Potatoes grow best in long, straight rows.
Potatoes are root crops that can grow throughout the country, but do best in northern states, where summers stay slightly cooler. The tubers come in brown-skinned, white-skinned and red-skinned varieties, though there are over 100 different cultivars available. All potatoes, whether red, white or brown, require the same basic planting and care. To plant multiple varieties and give yourself some range, make sure that you have the right starting date, and prepare separate plots.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- Garden fork
- Organic compost
- Quick-draining soil
- Fertilizer
- Shovel
- Mulch
- Stakes
- Start your site preparation one month before the last frost in your area, to allow the soil to rest and get the planting date right. Potatoes do best with cool-weather plantings, so start them two weeks before the last frost date.
- Find a site that gives you at least 10 square feet of planting space. Find a larger site if you're planting more than two types of potatoes. Make sure that the sites get full sun for around eight hours a day, with free drainage after any watering.
- Prepare potato patches 3 to 4 feet from each other, depending on your space. Use a garden fork to dig into the top 10 inches of soil. Add 2 inches of quick-draining soil and 3 inches of organic compost or well-rotted manure to the tilled soil in each site. Potatoes must have quick drainage and soil that contains lots of organic matter if they're to grow to maturity. Add 5-10-10 fertilizer to the tilled soil, per manufacturer directions.
- Dig trenches that are 2 to 5 inches deep and spaced at 28 to 36 inches in your potato patches. Plant potatoes deeper in cooler growing zones, for better protection. Drop seed potatoes into the trenches at every 10 to 12 inches, and fill the trenches with 1 to 2 inches of amended soil. Save the unused amended soil; you'll pile more on as the potatoes grow.
- Label each patch with a stake and sign declaring the cultivar. Water the potatoes with 3 to 4 inches of water, to wet the soil down around each seed potato, then spread 3 to 4 inches of mulch around the potato plantings to maintain soil moisture.
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