Pumpkin weighing as much as a hippo named the world’s heaviest | Agriculture News

Minnesota grower Travis Gienger squashes his rivals with huge 2,749-pound (1,247kg) gourd.

A monster pumpkin weighing the identical as a hippopotamus has been named the world’s heaviest.

Travis Gienger squashed the competitors to take house the $30,000 high prize on the fiftieth World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Half Moon Bay in California together with his 2,749 pound (1,247 kilogramme) gourd.

An orange-shirted Gienger punched the air and supplied hugs all spherical after the weigh-in.

“I used to be not anticipating that. It was fairly the sensation,” stated the 43-year-old panorama and horticulture trainer, who has been rising pumpkins for almost 30 years and final yr set a brand new United States document.

The California contest pits growers of mega-gourds from throughout North America towards one another.

Gienger, from Minnesota, pipped his nearest rival by a hefty 250 kilos to win the title.

Gienger grows his gourds in a pumpkin patch in his again yard. He stated this yr he determined to provide his vegetation additional care, watering them as much as 12 occasions a day and feeding and fertilising them a bit greater than traditional.

The champion gourd will likely be on show in Half Moon Bay this weekend when the city hosts its Artwork and Pumpkin Competition.

The US is presently within the throes of autumn celebrations with pumpkins of all sizes and styles obtainable at many shops.

Whereas some will likely be carved into ghoulish designs for Halloween on October 31, others will likely be made into pies or eaten as a aspect dish at dinner.

Gienger’s pumpkin can be sufficient to provide a minimum of 687 pies.

The earlier world document for heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 2,702-pound (1,226kg) squash in 2021, in response to Guinness World Information.