WEBVTT - How Do You Grow a 3,000-Pound Pumpkin? 0:00:01.910 --> 0:00:07.870 Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey BrainStuff, Lauren 0:00:07.890 --> 0:00:13.080 Vogelbaum here. There are very specific segments of our society 0:00:13.340 --> 0:00:17.080 engaged every year in a veritable arms race to grow 0:00:17.140 --> 0:00:22.460 the biggest pumpkin ever. There are local and national competitions 0:00:22.660 --> 0:00:26.690 and international governing bodies. Over the past 30 years, there 0:00:26.710 --> 0:00:29.990 have been new world record holders for heaviest pumpkin at 0:00:30.030 --> 0:00:33.020 least twice. 20 times, and the weight to beat has 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.720 increased by nearly 2,000 pounds, or 900 kilos, since then. 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:41.970 As I record this in October of 2026, the world 0:00:42.020 --> 0:00:44.510 record has been broken twice in the span of a week. 0:00:45.650 --> 0:00:48.410 One Ian Payton of Hampshire, England, won the title on 0:00:48.470 --> 0:00:50.589 October 3rd with a gourd that's 2,857 pounds. That's 1,296 kilos. 0:00:50.630 --> 0:01:01.890 That's heavier than a white rhino. But upset, on October 10th, 0:01:02.190 --> 0:01:04.310 a U.S. grower from Rhode Island by the name of 0:01:04.370 --> 0:01:11.780 Ron Wallace weighed in a pumpkin that's 3,156 pounds, or 0:01:11.780 --> 0:01:16.120 1,431 kilos. That's as heavy as a Honda Civic. And 0:01:16.420 --> 0:01:20.539 this isn't Wallace's first pumpkin rodeo. He previously held the 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.140 world record in 2006 and 2012, the latter with a 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.540 pumpkin that was the world's first to weigh in at 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.220 over a ton. So... Okay, how did we get here? 0:01:32.770 --> 0:01:35.869 Competitive vegetable growing has been a thing since at least 0:01:35.890 --> 0:01:40.270 the 1700s, but we humans make our own fun. Giant 0:01:40.330 --> 0:01:43.780 pumpkin varietals tend to be from the species Cucurbita maxima, 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:48.000 though not all types of C. maxima are huge. Popular 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.220 food varieties like buttercup squash and hubbards are in the 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.860 same wide species. C. maxima has been cultivated by peoples 0:01:55.910 --> 0:01:58.970 in the Americas for thousands of years. But we start 0:01:59.030 --> 0:02:02.810 seeing records of giant ones in the 1800s, which is 0:02:02.850 --> 0:02:06.450 when agricultural shows started really picking up in communities around 0:02:06.470 --> 0:02:09.510 the world as a way to get together, share some tips, 0:02:09.770 --> 0:02:12.470 and show off what you've been up to. A cultivar 0:02:12.510 --> 0:02:16.260 called the mammoth won several records over the years. But 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.139 as recently as the 1970s, a pumpkin that weighed even 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.639 a fifth of today's record breakers was not but a dream. 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.760 Giant pumpkins topped out around 400 pounds, or 180 kilos. 0:02:29.340 --> 0:02:32.680 The record holder from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, 0:02:32.940 --> 0:02:36.910 weighing in at 403 pounds, would stand for over seven decades. 0:02:37.850 --> 0:02:41.589 It was finally felled in 1976 by a grower from Pennsylvania, 0:02:41.750 --> 0:02:45.890 but not by much. Enter a Canadian farmer by the 0:02:45.930 --> 0:02:49.889 name of Howard W. Dill, now sometimes known as the 0:02:49.930 --> 0:02:53.510 Pumpkin King. At a young age, Dill left school in 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.639 Nova Scotia and taught himself about plant genetics. He selectively 0:02:57.780 --> 0:03:01.360 cross-matched and bred giant pumpkins until he came up with 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:06.519 a record-breaker in 1980, a gourd weighing 459 pounds, or 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:11.120 208 kilos. He patented the seeds under the varietal name 0:03:11.260 --> 0:03:15.970 Atlantic Giant. Today's winners are still based in that genetic lineage. 0:03:17.290 --> 0:03:19.980 For the article this episode is based on, HowStuffWorks spoke 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.260 with Jim Myers, a professor of vegetable breeding at Oregon 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:28.380 State University. He said, Genetics are important. It's based on 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.810 Dill's Atlantic Giant. But to be competitive, you need to 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.490 get seeds from pumpkin growers who have produced the biggest pumpkins. 0:03:36.030 --> 0:03:39.310 Every pumpkin champion comes from the offspring of those seeds. 0:03:40.130 --> 0:03:42.750 The Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds will grow pumpkin up to 0:03:42.750 --> 0:03:49.100 300 pounds, or 140 kilos on average. Giant pumpkins are, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.400 in fact, the heaviest fruits in the entirety of the 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:57.040 plant kingdom. And yes, botanically speaking, squash-like pumpkins are fruits. 0:03:58.700 --> 0:04:02.030 One of the contests that's seen multiple world record winners 0:04:02.250 --> 0:04:06.890 is the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, 0:04:07.250 --> 0:04:11.010 which was in its 53rd year this year. It's where 0:04:11.090 --> 0:04:15.070 two-time record holder Travis Ginger, a horticulture teacher from Minnesota, 0:04:15.470 --> 0:04:19.440 weighed in his winning pumpkins. Ginger had been trying for 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.120 29 years before he nabbed a world record. He reported 0:04:23.140 --> 0:04:26.370 that he starts his seeds indoors in early April, then, 0:04:26.589 --> 0:04:29.810 once they germinate, transfers them to a greenhouse, one outside 0:04:29.850 --> 0:04:32.050 his bedroom window, where he can keep an eye on them. 0:04:33.029 --> 0:04:35.150 He starts with more than one seedling, as it's good 0:04:35.170 --> 0:04:38.349 to have a backup in case one fails. He pollinates 0:04:38.390 --> 0:04:41.690 his pumpkins around mid-June, then nurtures them until the competition 0:04:41.770 --> 0:04:45.980 in early October. During those 180 days, he spends two 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.080 or three hours a day with them, watering and fertilizing them, 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.070 pruning and burying their vines, arranging their grow lights and heaters, 0:04:53.510 --> 0:04:55.950 and keeping a close eye out for disease and rot. 0:04:56.890 --> 0:05:01.190 Beyond simple fertilization with 15 different fertilizers, he also treats 0:05:01.250 --> 0:05:04.470 the soil with microbes like fungi that help fix nitrogen 0:05:04.510 --> 0:05:08.039 for the pumpkins to use as they grow. Myers said... 0:05:08.630 --> 0:05:11.960 The environment is intensively managed to keep the plant from 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.240 getting too hot or too cold or too thirsty. There 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.320 is a certain amount of cultural management, such as hand pollinating, 0:05:18.470 --> 0:05:21.229 removing competing fruit, and making sure that the nodes of 0:05:21.250 --> 0:05:25.390 the vine are rooted. But the costs aren't only in 0:05:25.570 --> 0:05:30.100 time and effort. In 2023, Ginger told Slate Magazine that 0:05:30.140 --> 0:05:34.120 he had sponsors who sent him $ 15, 000 worth of fertilizer 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.140 and other growing products, and that that was not the 0:05:37.220 --> 0:05:41.500 entire cost of growing these pumpkins. He spent $ 600 on 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.330 the seeds alone. Although I get the feeling that competitors 0:05:45.410 --> 0:05:47.940 do it for the love of the gourd game, There 0:05:47.980 --> 0:05:50.140 does tend to be prize money for winners of these 0:05:50.190 --> 0:05:55.109 growing contests. For the Safeway World Championship, it's currently $ 9 0:05:54.470 --> 0:05:57.610 a pound, plus an extra 30 grand if you break 0:05:57.650 --> 0:06:01.490 the world record. And it seems probable that we're going 0:06:01.529 --> 0:06:05.279 to keep seeing record breakers year after year. A paper 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.260 published in the International Journal of Nonlinear Mechanics estimated that 0:06:09.300 --> 0:06:12.080 giant pumpkins of the proper shape could hold up their 0:06:12.140 --> 0:06:17.849 own weight up to 20,000 pounds. That's 9,000 kilos. You 0:06:17.950 --> 0:06:21.050 can grow a giant pumpkin in your home garden, but 0:06:21.089 --> 0:06:23.470 you'll need tons of space to make room for the 0:06:23.510 --> 0:06:27.390 vines to spread and climb. How much is tons? At 0:06:27.430 --> 0:06:32.800 least 1,200 square feet, or 110 square meters. A temperate 0:06:32.830 --> 0:06:36.880 climate helps, along with lots of sunshine and water. Giant 0:06:36.900 --> 0:06:40.880 pumpkins average around 120 days to mature, which is about 0:06:40.900 --> 0:06:43.640 the same as a regular pumpkin. The difference is that 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.380 giant pumpkins grow much faster. sometimes gaining up to 60 0:06:47.380 --> 0:06:52.719 pounds in a day. That's 27 kilos. Consistency is critical too, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.430 especially when it comes to watering. Depending on your schedule, 0:06:56.750 --> 0:06:59.990 irrigation and rainwater can make a giant pumpkin happy or 0:07:00.190 --> 0:07:04.190 make it explode from too much moisture. Or probably not explode, 0:07:04.470 --> 0:07:07.050 but they can crack, which will lead in microbes that'll 0:07:07.089 --> 0:07:09.090 rot the pumpkin from the inside out before it has 0:07:09.110 --> 0:07:12.590 a chance to reach its full potential. Which happens often. 0:07:13.050 --> 0:07:16.410 That's why competitive growers start several gourds to account for 0:07:16.450 --> 0:07:20.710 such losses. And you'd better protect your pumpkin if you 0:07:20.750 --> 0:07:24.690 plan on making it a prized one. Myers suggests building 0:07:24.750 --> 0:07:27.810 a temporary fence around it to keep kids, pets, and 0:07:27.850 --> 0:07:31.910 livestock out. He said, If you're growing in an urban setting, 0:07:32.210 --> 0:07:35.770 giant pumpkins will attract attention, and you may have people 0:07:35.810 --> 0:07:38.600 in your yard where you do not want them. Be 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.500 prepared to spend a lot of time talking to passersby 0:07:41.740 --> 0:07:47.430 about pumpkins. Also, competitors must think about something that most 0:07:47.590 --> 0:07:53.230 home growers don't, transporting their giant pumpkins. For example, Ginger 0:07:53.290 --> 0:07:55.650 grows his in Minnesota, but has to ship them to 0:07:55.690 --> 0:08:00.150 California for official weighing. It involves a forklift, a heavy-duty 0:08:00.190 --> 0:08:04.820 pickup truck, and dodging elk while driving over mountains. So 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.420 what happens to these massive gourds after they go to competition? 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.640 The growers sometimes carve them for Halloween. The current Guinness 0:08:12.670 --> 0:08:16.830 World Record for heaviest jack-o'-lantern was achieved in 2023 with 0:08:16.950 --> 0:08:19.650 one of Ginger's pumpkins. An artist by the name of 0:08:19.750 --> 0:08:23.210 Eric Jones carved it with military veteran motifs to raise 0:08:23.250 --> 0:08:27.520 awareness about PTSD, and the design included a full-size service dog. 0:08:28.420 --> 0:08:31.640 Other growers sell theirs or trade or sell the seeds. 0:08:32.580 --> 0:08:36.530 But no pies are made from these pumpkins. Giant pumpkins 0:08:36.630 --> 0:08:40.359 are technically edible, just not very tasty. They're mostly water 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.740 and grown for their structural capacity instead of their flavor. 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.720 Though that doesn't mean they go to waste. Zoos often 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.460 treat their animals to snacks or enrichment in the form 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.800 of giant pumpkins. Farmers can also give pumpkins to animals 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.190 like cattle as feed. And if you're listening to this 0:08:57.230 --> 0:09:00.530 episode as it comes out, Tualatin, Oregon is about to 0:09:00.610 --> 0:09:04.429 hold its annual West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta on Sunday, 0:09:04.530 --> 0:09:08.750 October 18th. Every year, people dress up in costumes and 0:09:09.050 --> 0:09:12.350 take the helm of carved-out gourds to paddle across the 0:09:12.390 --> 0:09:15.770 Lake of the Commons. And this is far from the 0:09:15.929 --> 0:09:19.510 only such pumpkin regatta. The first one was started up 0:09:19.610 --> 0:09:23.910 in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1999 by Howard Dill's son, 0:09:24.309 --> 0:09:28.290 Danny Dill. But let's say you don't run a zoo 0:09:28.510 --> 0:09:31.100 and you're not planning on paddling out in any pumpkins 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.800 you carve this year. When you're done with decorative gourd season— 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.000 it's best, if possible, not to throw your pumpkins in 0:09:38.020 --> 0:09:42.000 the regular trash. When we send pumpkins to landfills, they 0:09:42.059 --> 0:09:45.300 leach water that carries gross stuff from the other trash 0:09:45.620 --> 0:09:49.870 out into local groundwater systems. And plant waste in landfills 0:09:49.970 --> 0:09:54.170 emits a lot of greenhouse gases as it decomposes. So 0:09:54.610 --> 0:09:58.110 if you can compost your pumpkin, that's great. And there 0:09:58.230 --> 0:10:01.420 are some local initiatives to make it more fun. We 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:06.420 have to talk about pumpkin smashes. Illinois produces the most 0:10:06.460 --> 0:10:10.920 pumpkins in America. And starting in 2014, an environmental nonprofit 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:15.370 called Scarce started hosting smashes. You bring your pumpkins. They 0:10:15.429 --> 0:10:19.630 provide giant mallets and other tools. You utterly destroy some gourds. 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.780 and they compost the results. Over the past 15 years, 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.790 they've composted over 3 million pounds of pumpkin. That's nearly 0:10:27.790 --> 0:10:33.950 1.5 million kilos. They've thus diverted some 348,000 gallons of 0:10:34.010 --> 0:10:39.090 water from landfills. Some agricultural extensions host smashes now, too. 0:10:40.309 --> 0:10:42.390 If you don't have a smash in your area and 0:10:42.429 --> 0:10:45.050 you don't compost, you might be able to toss pumpkins 0:10:45.150 --> 0:10:49.060 in with yard trimmings. Check with your local services. Back 0:10:49.179 --> 0:10:53.950 in 2014, the aforementioned current world record holder for heaviest pumpkin, 0:10:54.110 --> 0:10:57.750 Ron Wallace, spoke with writer Lily Rothman for an article 0:10:57.850 --> 0:11:00.929 about giant pumpkins in Time magazine. And I'd like to 0:11:01.030 --> 0:11:04.690 end here on a quote from him. He said, Have 0:11:04.710 --> 0:11:08.190 you ever heard anybody say a bad word about a pumpkin? No. 0:11:08.890 --> 0:11:13.339 Pumpkins could solve the world's problems. Honestly, everybody loves a pumpkin. 0:11:13.500 --> 0:11:21.689 They do. And to see one grow that big. Today's 0:11:21.750 --> 0:11:23.910 episode is based on the article, How Do You Grow 0:11:23.970 --> 0:11:28.300 a 2,000-lb Pumpkin? on HowStuffWorks.com, written by Muriel Vega, with 0:11:28.340 --> 0:11:31.500 additional material from my food science and history podcast, Savor. 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.060 BrainStuff is a production of iHeart Podcasts in partnership with 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.969 HowStuffWorks.com and is produced by Tyler Klang. For more shows 0:11:39.030 --> 0:11:42.730 from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:11:42.950 --> 0:11:44.849 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.