Giant Pumpkin

gardening · record-breaking · giant vegetables

Massive Orange Giants. Giant pumpkins belong to a special type of squash called Cucurbita maxima and can weigh anywhere from 150 pounds to over 2,000 pounds. The largest giant pumpkin ever grown weighed a whopping 2,819 pounds, which is heavier than most cars!

Records Since 1893. People started growing giant pumpkins in the 1800s, and the world's first official records were set at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Since then, people keep breaking records, and new champions are crowned regularly.

Hobby for Thousands. About 10,000 gardeners around the world try to grow giant pumpkins each year as a fun challenge and competition. Growers can win prize money and become famous if their pumpkin sets a new record.

Not Just for Eating. Giant pumpkins don't taste very good, so they're grown mostly for the fun of it rather than food. Creative people have turned them into boats, catapulted them in competitions called pumpkin chucking, and displayed them at fairs.

Valuable Champion Seeds. The seeds from record-breaking giant pumpkins are worth a lot of money because other growers want to use them to grow their own huge pumpkins. These special seeds give future gardeners a better chance at breaking records themselves.