Pumpkin pros battle for gourd glory — What’s their secret?
Each fall, the anticipation builds in pumpkin patches across America, with growers hoping their gourd will be chosen as the “Great Pumpkin.” For Tony Scott, a semiconductor engineer from upstate New York, that hope drives his passion for cultivating pumpkins that rival the size of small cars.
“Most people, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it real?’” Scott told The Associated Press. “And I ask, ‘Well, where would you buy a fake pumpkin this big, right?’ You know, it’s real.”
Growing a massive pumpkin is no simple feat. Genetics play a significant role, with competitive growers favoring the “Atlantic Giant” seed. But attention to detail is crucial. Scott covers his pumpkins during the growing season, shielding them from sunlight to prevent the skin from hardening prematurely.
“The bigger they get, they get really oddly shaped because of the weight, and we keep it covered. We don’t let the sun hit it at all, typically during the growing season,” he explained.
Watering is essential; giant pumpkins can consume gallons daily. Once the fruit begins to expand, growers thin the plant, removing all but one pumpkin to channel nutrients and sugar water into a single gourd.
“When growers are making a giant pumpkin, they actually do something to the plant, which is that they take off all the other growing pumpkins. So each plant only has one pumpkin that it’s funneling all of its sugar water and resources into, and that helps make it extra big in a way that you might not see in the wild,” said Aleca Borsuk, a plant scientist at the New York Botanical Garden.
Due to gravity, pumpkins grow wider rather than taller. Protecting them from sunlight also helps growers achieve the desired color. But the process is fraught with challenges.
“When you’re growing that fast, anything can happen. It could crack. It could blow out the rear of it. That’s all happened to me. And it typically happens. I only grow two, and I usually lose one, because you push them pretty hard,” Scott said.
Despite his efforts, Scott’s 1,931-pound pumpkin took third place this year at an annual weigh-off, the AP said. In 2024, Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota was the champion at the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, in 2024 with a 2,471 pound gourd.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
