Beni Meier of Germany broke the world record in He brought his 2, See picture above. A mammoth congratulations goes out to Tim Mathison. Tim grew his record pumpkin on the Wallace seed and crossed it with the Mathison. Yes, big genetics begets big….. Absolutely unbelievable! This is the first pumpkin to weigh in at a ton or more! We knew someday, someone would grow a giant, make that enormous, one ton or more pumpkin. With this firm belief, every serious, giant pumpkin grower set out to to be the one to produce the first one ton pumpkin.
The tiny state of Rhode Island looms large in the world of giant pumpkins. Ron is no newbie in the hobby growing giant pumpkins. Ever seen a pumpkin float? In , after a Tennessee farmer grew a nearly 1,pound squash, he dug out the seeds and climbed in. Weighing pounds, Justin Ownby's pumpkin broke his then-personal record.
He celebrated by transforming the giant pumpkin into a boat. More: This farmer grew a pound pumpkin and turned it into a boat. Watch him paddle it across a pond. In , twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton broke their own record for the U. At the time, their giant pumpkin weighed just under the world record — which was then 2, These two growers are moving up in the ranks one pumpkin at a time.
They each currently have five on the list, the same quantity as Willemijns. Size matters in the pumpkin industry. One-tenth of a pound could make the difference between growing the 43 largest pumpkin in the world or being tied for the 43 largest pumpkin in the world.
This is exactly the case for two familiar growers from the top ten: Ian and Stuart Paton and Mathias Willemijns. In , Willemijns grew a 2, In , Ian and Stuart Paton grew a pumpkin of the exact same size , right down to the. Two more familiar growers, Karl Haist and Steve Daletas are tied for the 62nd largest pumpkin ever grown. Both pumpkins weigh pounds. Two pumpkins are also tied for 63 at pounds. Tied for 77 are two Rather than depend on bees, competitive growers pollinate by hand to make sure to use both seeds and pollen from plants with proven genetic lines.
Wallace recalls that when the first 1,lb. After all, every pumpkin produces hundreds of seeds. Every pumpkin growing season is another generation, a chance to select the seeds from the biggest pumpkins and pollinate them with other big-pumpkin plants and thus grow an even bigger pumpkin. Properties like color and taste fall away. For size and sturdiness, however, the growers are exacting. The nature versus nurture question has invaded the backyard garden as well.
Wallace estimates that he spends up to 40 hours a week and thousands of dollars a year ushering seeds to greatness. Some growers talk to their plants. Others water with milk, which they claim provides important calcium. The more scientific-minded among them, like Wallace, swear by an organic soil-enhancer called mycorrhizal fungi.
They send soil and tissue samples to a lab to make sure the pumpkins are not short on any nutrients. But the seeds have been there all along, carrying the genetic code for enormity. The passionate growers have too. What made the difference — as with so many things — was the Internet.
If you heard about a particularly big pumpkin, you wrote a letter to the grower and asked him to send you a seed. He might respond, or he might not. All that waiting and wondering is now a thing of the past.
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