Last year in the garden we decided to have a go at growing some giant pumpkins for the first time. The variety we used for this was the Atlantic Giant pumpkin, developed by the “Pumpkin King”, Howard Dill of Nova Scotia, Canada. As with all members of the cucurbit family, such as courgettes, cucumbers and squashes, the pumpkin is a tender plant and cannot tolerate frosts. We started growing our plants in the polytunnel in April. The seeds germinated within ten days and we were able to grow them on to a decent size before planting them outside in late May, when the last frosts had passed.
We had already prepared the ground with plenty of well-rotted manure in order to retain moisture and the plants got off to a flying start. We watered and fertilised the plants regularly and each week they spread further and further. After several weeks of growth the plants began to flower and small fruits quickly formed. Some of the staff, volunteers and clients picked a plant each and an informal growing competition began, each person caring for their own plant. During the first month, the fruits seemed to double in size each week and we started having visions of world records being broken. It was all very exciting as we watered, fed and coaxed our pumpkins into growing ever bigger.As the summer days passed and the weather began to cool, our pumpkin odyssey was coming to an end. With the threat of a frost imminent we had to accept that the pumpkins would grow no more, so we removed them from the plant to the safety of the polytunnel. For the big weigh-in we had to borrow some bathroom scales from one of our volunteers. The largest one of all came in at 41 lb which is about 18.5 kg or just short of 3 stone. After the care we took in looking after our own pumpkins this whopper turned out to be one of the ones
that nobody had cared for. So much for our efforts!
The world record for the heaviest pumpkin has recently been broken again and in case you’re wondering, it wasn’t by us. Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin, managed to grow one that has been officially weighed in by Guinness World Records at a staggering 1810 lb or 821 kg! So we have a long way to go to try and beat the North Americans and with selected seed from the biggest specimens being traded for upwards of $50, we may well struggle to compete. Next year, if we just increase the amount of water and feed the plants a bit more, then maybe, just maybe …….
David Martin
Horticulturist
