The Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers

Most of think about pumpkins only around Halloween, and then we go to the market or fair to find the biggest, best pumpkins in to which we can carve silly grins and frightening scowls. But for some people, pumpkins are a year-round obsession, and carving their biggest and best would be a challenge worthy of Michaelangelo. They are the members of the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.

Growers can produce natural wonder weighing over 1,000 pounds; the PA current record holder, Quinn Werner, grew a record 1556.5 pound pumpkin in 2007. The secret? A combination of the right seeds, the right nutrients and precision pruning.

The seeds are taken from pumpkins with the finest pedigrees; you can pay $6 for each seed taken from a 1,000 pounder. The seedlings must be carefully cared for, with constant attention to air temperature, soil nutrients, and more. Pollination is a precisely controlled, and vines must be positioned so as to reduce stress and prevent losses from a vine snapping under the weight. The pumpkins are measured daily, and decisions made; the more pumpkins a vine produces, the fewer resources each receives. Thus, the best hopes are kept and the rest are pruned away.

The result? Expert from the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers association report that amateurs can produce pumpkins weighing 200 or 300 pounds. In the hands of an expert, these same seeds will become half-ton contenders.

So, next Halloween, if you want to really impress and terrify the neighbors, consider decorating your front yard with a half-ton of carved orange flesh. It's not a sight anyone will forget soon.