The world record for the heaviest pumpkin was broken recently. (Photo Credit: weighoff.miramarevents.com)
Last month, a UK man made headlines when he grew the world's largest onion, breaking a world record last set in 2014. At 8.97 kg, this onion is said to weigh more than a bowling ball (read full story here). More recently, another gigantic vegetable has become the subject of a world record: a pumpkin grown by a horticulture teacher, Travis Gienger, from Minnesota. The ginormous pumpkin was presented at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. Wondering how much it weighs?
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Photo Credit: weighoff.miramarevents.com
The weight of this enormous gourd has been recorded as 2,749 pounds (almost 1247 kilograms)! The Guardian has reported that this is equivalent to that of 2,110 basketballs, or 275 jack-o'-lantern gourds, approximately. The pumpkin has been named after legendary American sporting legend, Michael Jordan. According to KSTP News, Gienger decided on this name because it's the year 2023 [Jordan's jersey number was 23) and because he considers him the "greatest basketball player of all time". He also revealed, "What people don't know is it started out basketball round and I said this is going to be a perfectly round basketball-shaped pumpkin".
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Photo Credit: weighoff.miramarevents.com
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Travis Gienger didn't just win the coveted title for the world's largest pumpkin. Since he also won the contest, he would receive a cash prize of $30,000, as per the official website. At last year's edition of the championship, the pumpkin then presented by Gienger was declared the largest in North America. It weighed 2,560 pounds (around 1161 kilograms). As for the Guinness World Record, the previous title holder was Stefano Cutrupi of Italy. He set the record in September 2021 with a pumpkin weighing 2,702.8 pounds (almost 1226 kilograms).