What was the biggest pumpkin

It may have done better. The world of competitive giant vegetable growing has gone through something of a renaissance in , particularly in the UK. The world record for the heaviest pumpkin is 1, The soil must be well prepared and rich with nutrients, moisture kept up but not overdone, and the climate warm enough to encourage growth but not so warm as to split fruit and send things to seed. But interest in growing vegetables at home has jumped during the pandemic. Soil Testers. Cell Phones.

Clothing — Fashions. Electronic Best Sellers. Groceries Kitchenware. Congratulations to Mathia! Morer Giant Pumpkin Record Holders. See picture above A mammoth congratulations goes out to Tim Mathison. See our great recipe collections:. Pumpkin Recipes — Indeed, over recipes and still growing Halloween Party Recipes — Put the icky, gross and gory into your party. Please support our site. Shop for:. Male flowers have a stamen with pollen on it and others have a small bulge — the beginnings of a pumpkin, the analog of an egg — under a stigma that can catch the pollen.

In order for the pumpkin to grow, the pollen from the male flower has to get into the female flower. 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. Then cook in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Bethany Dawson.