A monster pumpkin weighing the same as a hippopotamus has been named the world’s heaviest.
Travis Gienger squashed the competition to take home the $30,000 top prize at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Half Moon Bay in California with his 2,749 pound (1,247 kilogramme) gourd.
An orange-shirted Gienger punched the air and offered hugs all round after the weigh-in.
“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” said the 43-year-old landscape and horticulture teacher, who has been growing pumpkins for nearly 30 years and last year set a new United States record.
The California contest pits growers of mega-gourds from all over North America against each other.
Gienger, from Minnesota, pipped his nearest rival by a hefty 250 pounds to win the title.
Gienger grows his gourds in a pumpkin patch in his back yard. He said this year he decided to give his plants extra care, watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding and fertilising them a bit more than usual.
The champion gourd will be on display in Half Moon Bay this weekend when the town hosts its Art and Pumpkin Festival.
The US is currently in the throes of autumn celebrations with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes available at many stores.
While some will be carved into ghoulish designs for Halloween on October 31, others will be made into pies or eaten as a side dish at dinner.
Gienger’s pumpkin would be enough to produce at least 687 pies.
The previous world record for heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 2,702-pound (1,226kg) squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.
Minnesota grower Travis Gienger squashes his rivals with massive 2,749-pound (1,247kg) gourd. A monster pumpkin weighing the same as a hippopotamus has been named the world's heaviest.
The 2,749-pound gourd not only earned grower Travis Gienger a $30,000 first-place prize and bragging rights for a year, it also topped the world's previous record-holding pumpkin by 47 pounds.
The heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,749 pounds (1,246.9 kilograms) when it was presented by Travis Gienger (USA) at the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off held in Half Moon Bay, California, USA, on 9 October 2023.
The current world record heavyweight champion pumpkin is 2,749 pounds held by Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota set at our 50th annual weigh-off event on October 9, 2023! Here's how the $30,000 breaks down: the winner receives a world's biggest $9 per pound plus the difference to get to a total of $30,000.
This year, Gienger's Atlantic Giant pumpkin beat world records at 2,749 pounds, which involved a preternatural amount of time and dedication (which might explain why he's set the U.S. record for the largest pumpkin for three years in a row).
Minnesota grower Travis Gienger squashes his rivals with massive 2,749-pound (1,247kg) gourd. A monster pumpkin weighing the same as a hippopotamus has been named the world's heaviest.
The gargantuan orange jack-o'-lantern, weighing in at a whopping 2,749 pounds, emerged as the victor at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. Here's everything you need to know about this colossal pumpkin and the man behind the record-breaking harvest.
A 43-year-old Minnesota educator can now boast he's grown the heaviest pumpkin on earth. Travis Gienger, a horticulture and landscape teacher at Anoka Technical College, set a new world record Monday for growing the plumpest pumpkin on the planet after growing one weighing 2,749 pounds.
An American teacher from Minnesota has set a record for growing the world's heaviest pumpkin, which weighed 1,247 kilograms. Travis Gienger was named the winner Monday of the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California.
Pumpkins are grown all over the world; six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins including Alaska. The only continent on which you won't find pumpkins growing is Antarctica. About ½ of the produced pumpkins in the US are grown in 6 states.
Pumpkins range in size from less than one pound to more than 1,000 pounds. Miniature-sized pumpkins weigh less than one pound, are marketed fresh and typically are used for decorative purposes. Pie pumpkins range in many sizes, however, the 5- to 10-pound pie pumpkins are most often grown.
The world's largest pumpkin was grown in Italy in 2021, and it weighed in at 2,702 pounds. The largest recorded pumpkin in Illinois was grown by Gene McMullen in 2015, and it weighed in at 2,145.5 pounds. Last year's winner in the 2022 contest in Illinois was Joe Adkins, and his pumpkin weighed 1,760 pounds.
1. Black Futsu – Like a color-changing chameleon, this rare Japanese variety is one of the most unique pumpkins you can grow. Starting out as a greenish-black wart covered fruit, 'Black Futsu' turns chestnut color when mature, but not before transitioning through a grayish-green, moldy-looking stage.
The answer may surprise you! A pumpkin is, in fact, a fruit. According to expert Joe Masabni, Ph. D., Texas A&M Agri Life Extension Service vegetable specialist in Dallas, scientifically speaking, a pumpkin is a fruit simply because anything that starts from a flower is botanically a fruit.
Seeds of prize winning giant pumpkins are extremely valuable, with single seeds selling for up to US$850. Pedigrees similar to ones used in horse racing have been adopted for use with giant pumpkins. Despite their enormous size, they are not generally eaten, as they are not particularly tasty, and may be inedible.
Although the winner is undeniably huge, it's not even half the weight of the largest pumpkin ever recorded. In October of 2023, a Minnesota farmer at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Half Moon Bay in California walked away with the $30,000 top prize and a world record for his 2,749 pound pumpkin.
Travis Gienger squashed the competition at the 50th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California with his pumpkin weighing-in at 2,749 pounds, breaking a world record. Gienger previously won in 2022 and in 2020.
The Guinness world record shot is held by a pneumatic cannon dubbed "Big 10 Inch", at 5,545.43 feet (1,690.25 m), on September 9, 2010, in Moab, Utah. The shot received certification from Guinness World Records in early February 2011. Big 10 Inch has also competed many times at the WCPC event in Delaware.
Introduction: My name is Rev. Leonie Wyman, I am a colorful, tasty, splendid, fair, witty, gorgeous, splendid person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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