Huge, orange, ambitious: It's giant pumpkin season
Every year, ambitious gardeners invest time, water, fertilizer and a lot of care in cultivating giant pumpkins. Many end up in one of the around 125 giant pumpkin contests held annually around the world.
Prize-winning giants
During their approximately 100-day growth phase, pumpkins of the Atlantic Giant variety — a breed developed by Canadian Howard Dill in the 1970s — require up to 20,000 liters (5,300 gallons) of water. Keen growers might say it's worth it, because in some of the contests, prize money can run into tens of thousands. This entry won first prize during the 2022 Malvern Autumn Show in the UK.
Poland's heaviest pumpkin
This year's winner at the Heaviest Pumpkin Contest in Warsaw's Powsin neighborhood is called Klementyna, and she weighs in at 546 kilograms (more than 1,200 pounds). That makes her the heaviest pumpkin in Poland. Her prize money was around 4,500 Polish zlotys (€1,060/$1,230). Many growers exchange seed packets from champion pumpkins at such events to pass on the best genes.
Size of a small car
Tony Scott, an engineer from the US state of New York, has been growing giant pumpkins for eight years and regularly takes part in competitions. This year's pumpkin weighs as much as a small car, and he's been feeding it fertilizer and covering it with a blanket at night to keep it warm. Scott said, under the right conditions, giant pumpkins can put on between 18 and 23 kilograms a day.
Joining the giants
Pumpkins aren't the only veggies that can grow to monstrous sizes. Pumpkins may dwarf all other vegetables, but cucumbers, beets and some cabbage varieties are also capable of colossal feats, as Paul Proud demonstrated with a giant cabbage, parsnip, carrot, beetroot and cucumber at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show in the UK in 2023.
Don't eat the boats
The question is, what can one do with all these giant pumpkins? At the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta in western US state of Oregon, they've come up with an answer. Competitors race gigantic pumpkin boats — or sink them, because you can only stay afloat in a hollowed-out pumpkin for up to an hour. After that, it becomes too heavy and unstable.
Giant pumpkin snacks
Yes, you can eat giant pumpkins, but they're a bit unwieldy in the kitchen. However, they did make an excellent snack for the sun bears at the Dutch Royal Burgers' Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands. With their long claws, the bears made short work of this 791-kilogram white pumpkin in their enclosure last November.