Potato forming above ground

Hello

Yes, this post is about potatoes doing weird things!

I made a video. It's at the end of this post if you don't feel like reading everything.

This is the tale of George the Hipster potato. Because growing under ground is too mainstream.

Around the middle of April 2017, George had been a PnP baby potato sprouting away in the cupboard and I thought it a good idea to get him into the ground.
Wanting to test this new fad of growing potatoes in containers which promised a harvest beyond belief, George was plopped into a flower pot half-filled with compost. As with all my plant-children a photo diary was kept.
Here he is the in the brown pot on 8 May. So cute

Also posing in the photo are a normal big potato in the green pot, and another baby potato growing in the ground. They have behaved themselves and have not yet warranted having a name.

6 June- the day before the ‘Greatest storm in 50 years’ where all of Cape Town had battened down the hatches, secured all patio furniture, brought animals inside and generally expected to be totally blown away. There was quite a bit of wind although not so bad right here on our side of the Peninsula.
There are quite a few video’s available of the worst of the weather- This is one of my favourites

Back to potatoes
11 July
I checked on my plants and saw this little guy had suddenly grown a bunch of purple protrusions. My first thought on spying the silly spud was : “Go home potato, you’re drunk”

I took some photos and posted then on a veggies group on good old FB.
“ Hello Folks! What on earth is this potato doing? I think it’s a baby potato from PnP growing here. Should I bury it?”

“Eggplant!” “ Brinjal!” “ Deadly Nightshade!” Came the answers.
Someone suggested picking a fruit and cutting it in half.

I found my answer in this paper from 1959, written by G.A. Thijn. " Under normal conditions stem portions other than the extremities of stolons can also enlarge to tubers. In fields it is observed regularly that buds in the axils of the lowermost leaves grow into tubers, as a result of an attack by Rhizoctonia Solani Kuhn or by injury of the stem during cultivation." http://edepot.wur.nl/383688
The stem suffered bruising during the recent storms which I think would be enough reason for it's behavior.

After asking some more recent ( and alive) experts on FB the answer came from Oranjezicht City Farm who confirmed : "Potato plants will produce tubers under any condition of growth. If normal Tuber formation under ground is prevented, then the formation of tubers will happen above ground. The above ground tubers can be eaten but they are not that tasty."

Today I had a look at it and decided it was time to do a video to show you what had happened.

Hope you enjoy!
Cheers