Flannel shirts , fall foliageand stale temperatures are sure signsautumn is here . But there ’s another obvious thing — and it ’s a gravid one — giant pumpkincompetitions . They ’re held all over the U.S. from Alabama to Alaska , but the " Super Bowl of Weigh - Offs " is held in the world pumpkin uppercase , Half Moon Bay , California .
This class marked the50th one-year Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh - Offand it did not disappoint . The success was Travis Gienger of Anoka , Minnesota , and his monolithic pumpkin vine . This Gorilla gorilla - sized calabash weighed in at a whopping2,749 pound ( 1,247 kg ) , go under a new North American record for heaviest pumpkin .
" Winning the contender felt up dreamlike , " Travis Gienger suppose via electronic mail in 2022 . " This has been a 180 - day labor of making love and more importantly , 28 years of growing make out down to one day ! "
2023 was Gienger ’s third time lead home the gold . His third win pumpkin was almost 400 hammer ( 181 kilograms ) heavier than his 2020 winning pumpkin . He set the Guinness World Record forheaviest jack - o'-lantern in 2020with that 2,350 - pound ( 1,065.9 - kilogram ) Cucurbita pepo .
Gienger say he commence the germ for his 2022 " rebel " in early April to pollinate the pumpkin around mid - June and then nurtured it until the competition . During those 180 days , he had to irrigate and fertilize it multiple fourth dimension a day , prune and bury its vines , and keep a close eye out for disease and rot .
" To grow North America ’s bombastic pumpkin has always been a dream of mine and to finally achieve that has been a dream get along straight , " he says .
The Dill’s Atlantic Giant
So how do Fannie Merritt Farmer like Gienger grow pumpkins so handsome ? It all comes down to genetics , says Jim Myers , professor of vegetable breeding at Oregon State University .
" Genetics are important , " Myers tell . " It ’s ground on Dill ’s Atlantic Giant [ seed ] . But to be free-enterprise , you need to get seed from pumpkin agriculturalist who have produced the large pumpkin vine . Every pumpkin champion comes from the issue of those come . The Dill ’s Atlantic Giant seeds will develop a pumpkin up to 300 dog pound [ 136 kg ] on average . "
We can traceDill ’s Atlantic Giantall the means back to the late Canadian growerHoward W. Dill , who was known as the Pumpkin King . At a unseasoned age , Dill left schooltime in Nova Scotia and teach himself about flora genetics . Anethum graveolens selectively transversal - match and engender gargantuan pumpkin ejaculate .
He make out up with the Atlantic Giant seeds and patented them in 1979 . Heset the creation recordin 1978 with a 438.5 - hammer ( 198.9 - kilogram ) gourd , which does n’t voice like much compared to the car - sized pumpkins grow today , but at the time , it was unheard of .
How Do You Grow a Giant Pumpkin?
Technically , you could grow one of these giants in your home garden , but you ’ll need tons of space to make room for the vines to spread and climb . It also will need slews of sunshine , H2O andpollinators .
" The surroundings is intensively managed to keep the plant from start too hot or too dusty or too athirst , " Myers says . " There is a certain amount of cultural management such as hand pollinating , bump off contend fruit and making sure that the nodes of the vine are settle down . "
So just how much quad and metre does one of these giant gourds need to mature ? At least1,200 straight feet(111 satisfying meters ) and around 120 daylight to age — that ’s about the same as a regular pumpkin . The difference is jumbo pumpkins farm much faster than pocket-size ones , sometimes make 20 to 60 pounds ( 9 to 27 kg ) in one day .
consistence is decisive , too , especially when it comes towatering . count on your schedule , irrigation and rain can make a giant pumpkin happy or make it burst from too much wet .
And you better protect your pumpkin if you plan on making it a prized one . Meyers paint a picture building a temporary fence around it to keep children , PET and livestock out .
" If you are growing in an urban background , elephantine autumn pumpkin will attract attention , and you may have masses in your yard where you do not want them , " Myers says . " Be fain to drop a stack of sentence talking to passersby about pumpkins . "
Competitors must think about something most home growers do n’t : transporting their giant pumpkins . For instance , Gienger grew his in Minnesota but had to ship it to California for prescribed advisement . How nerve - wracking is that ?
" This pumpkin was massive and could easily have weighed a distich hundred pounds more , but you never know until you get to the ordered series ! " Gienger says .
After the Competition
So what in the world happens to these monumental gourds after they go to competition ? Typically the cultivator get to keep them and some willcarve them for Halloween . Other agriculturalist sell theirs , or swop and sell the seeds , according to NPR .
But if you think anybody will be eating them , think again . gargantuan pumpkin are commonly not edible , but that does n’t mean they go to waste matter .
The Oregon Zoo often treats its elephants togiant pumpkin snacks , and at theBauman Harvest Festivalin Oregon you could watch theBauman ’s Giant Pumpkin Drop . It ’s exactly like it sounds : elephantine pumpkins are hoisted 100 feet ( 30 meter ) up in the air and throw away into an inflatable pool , all in the name of fall playfulness .
