Pumpkins must be one the largest vegetables you can grow with a world record at a massive 1191 kg (over a tonne!). Even the British record is an impressive 1176 kg. I admit to being a little fascinated trying to grow these giants.
After growing giant marrows for a few years and having some success at local shows, I planted a giant pumpkin for the 2019 Wroughton Show. Whilst I use “magic” giant pumpkin and marrow seeds, other than that I don’t really treat them any different from other squashes. I do plant them in an area where I store manure so they get plenty of fertiliser, but other than that they get neglected.
The giant pumpkin and marrow seeds are more vigorous than normal seeds – the plants can easily fill a space of 3 x 3 m.
Photo - Just one plant - the pumpkin visible is about the size of a football.
The other thing is that they only really get growing in late June, when the temperature heats up. The pumpkins in particular leave it late. In 2019 I was worried that I had no pumpkins at the start of August. No need to worry, by mid-September I had a giant pumpkin, so large it actually is just visible on Google’s satellite map.
So, as well as the Wroughton Show, it was off to the Giant Vegetable Show at Malvern armed with a 122kg pumpkin and a 29 kg marrow. I knew I wasn’t going to win but thought I’d give it a go with a view to being more competitive in future years. Transporting giants is not easy. 122kg is just liftable, I managed to get it into the car via a few scaffold planks.
On arrival at the show there is a forklift on-hand which gives you an idea of the competition.
Photo - My entry is the light-coloured pumpkin in front of the darker orange winner.
So how did I do? Well, the winner of the pumpkins was 412 kg and the marrow a whopping 90.2 kg, a UK record at the time. So, no success, but a good day out, and some good strength training getting them to the show!
This season has been a little disappointing, the giant marrows started to grow early in July, and by the end of July one was about 80cm long and looking promising but has not grown much in August. The pumpkins have left it really late, with the fruit forming mid-August and reaching the size of a basketball by the end of August. The cold weather hasn’t helped. I’m not sure if I will enter the giant marrows or pumpkins in this year’s Malvern show unless they suddenly grow. However, I do have a long runner bean that is looking promising…….
And for next year, I have an old greenhouse that I might use just for one marrow plant.
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