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At first glance, it looks like a scene
from a sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Eager pumpkin
growers from around the world haul their orange giants to pumpkin
fairs, hoping that maybe this year, they'll win the coveted Biggest
Pumpkin award. For some, it is about stretching nature to extremes,
but for others, it's about achieving a world record. Regardless
of why they create these gigantic fruits, growers are achieving
pumpkin weights never before imagined!
Giant pumpkin growing first became an international sport in 1900 when William Warnock of Goderich, Ontario, Canada, sent a 400-pound specimen to the Paris World's Fair. This gigantic fruit was awarded a special bronze medal and diploma from the French government. During the 20th century, growers competed with each other to beat the weight from the year before. In 2002, Charlie Houghton of New Boston, New Hampshire, submitted his world-record-setting pumpkin, which weighed in at 1,337.6 pounds!
How have pumpkins increased in size by almost 1,000 pounds in only 100 years? Ask ten champion pumpkin growers their secrets for growing these heavyweights and you'll get ten different answers, if they are willing to reveal their secrets, that is. But, according to most record holders, to grow a gigantic pumpkin, you need good seed, good soil, and good luck.
With pumpkins weighing in at well over 1,000 pounds, growers don't want to rely on luck as they lug their entry to the fair. They want to make sure they have a winner. But have you ever tried to roll a 1,000-pound pumpkin onto a scale? It isn't easy. So mathematicians have figured out a formula that helps growers estimate the weight of their pumpkin before the official competition.
It's a lucky thing for growers that David Martin, a pumpkin fan from Little Britain, Ontario, Canada, took the measurements of nearly 1,200 giant pumpkins, compared their sizes and weights, and devised a formula to help growers estimate a pumpkin's weight. According to Martin, you just need to find the pumpkin's largest circumference. This isn't always easy, considering the funny shapes of some pumpkins. Once the grower has the largest circumference measurement, to estimate the weight, he or she can plug it into Martin's formula or just look it up in Martin's handy chart.
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