Doug the ugly New Zealand potato could be world's biggest

Story and Video HERE

Interesting story, I first heard about it on tv news. I think Doug would make a great baked potato.
Lots of butter and sour cream, please!

I'm also interested in giant pumpkins that people grow. The world's record was 2703 pounds last month...

https://www.usatoday.c​om …ns-ever-grown/6171427001/

Several years ago I tried growing giant pumpkins in my backyard. My largest was 107 pounds, not really
giant at all, but still fun to grow. My sister entered it in a county fair and expected it to win a prize.
But while on display a little boy pushed the pumpkin off the table. It hit the floor and broke into many pieces.
No prize for that!

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #19303192
Interesting story, I first heard about it on tv news. I think Doug would make a great baked potato.
Lots of butter and sour cream, please!

I'm also interested in giant pumpkins that people grow. The world's record was 2703 pounds last month...

https://www.usatoday.c​om …ns-ever-grown/6171427001/

Several years ago I tried growing giant pumpkins in my backyard. My largest was 107 pounds, not really
giant at all, but still fun to grow. My sister entered it in a county fair and expected it to win a prize.
But while on display a little boy pushed the pumpkin off the table. It hit the floor and broke into many pieces.
No prize for that!

I am not sure a potato that large would taste as good as a smaller one, but then maybe there really would be very little difference in taste.

Bummer for your sister, I am really sorry that happened to her.

How could a potato of any size, let alone a huge one, form without being connected to an above-ground plant with stems and leaves?

OhLook wrote in post #19303361
How could a potato of any size, let alone a huge one, form without being connected to an above-ground plant with stems and leaves?

You're right, but there's mention of weeds. These wayward spuds can grow amongst weeds and other growth.
But they would flower. I suspect this was evident but innocuous looking and the amount of potatoes under a 'top' could easily be the combined weight of this.
I'd imagine instead of forming several tubers they just grew in one huge one

avondale87 wrote in post #19303368
These wayward spuds can grow amongst weeds and other growth. . . . I'd imagine instead of forming several tubers they just grew in one huge one

It must have happened that way. I wonder whether Doug might be the product of many tubers that grew close together and fused. He's lumpy. If one potato landed on the soil, or perhaps was buried by an animal, and all its eyes sprouted, it could make a tangled mass of roots, all generating baby potatoes at the same time.

Baby potatoes? Isn’t this taking anthropomorphism a bit far

ECC233 wrote in post #19304702
Baby potatoes? Isn’t this taking anthropomorphism a bit far

When this particular potato received a first name, a slippery slope was inevitable.

OhLook wrote in post #19304743

ECC233 wrote in post #19304702
Baby potatoes? Isn’t this taking anthropomorphism a bit far

When this particular potato received a first name, a slippery slope was inevitable.

I am glad you saw this thread OH, cuz I would be clueless for any answers to what has been mentioned so far!

OhLook wrote in post #19304743
When this particular potato received a first name, a slippery slope was inevitable.

Fair enough!