That seems like a quintessential nerd factoid to me. It's clever, unusual, almost practical, and displays a knowledge of obscure topics while completely ignoring common sense knowledge like the fact that you don't grow tomatoes under the dirt.

'Factoid' was coined by Norman Mailer to mean something that appears to be true but really isn't. If this really works, then it isn't a factoid.

I used that term on purpose precisely because it's not correct due to the whole above/below mixup. The fixed version would indeed not qualify as a proper factoid.

>Don't people usually want tomatoes above the ground and potatoes below?

It's more than just wanting things that way; potatoes grown above the ground (and exposed to light) turn green and are poisonous to eat. I'm sure tomatoes grown underground would rot as well.

Came here exactly to post this mistake.