Black Gold, Neptune's Harvest products help grower smash pumpkin world record

The world record for heaviest pumpkin has been broken by a Minnesota grower who used Black Gold and Neptune's Harvest products on the rhinoceros-sized gourd.

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 2023 50th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, on Oct. 9 with his 2,749-pound pumpkin. Now a three-time winner of the event, Gienger received a $30,000 prize, plus the inaugural Pumpkin King Champions Ring and Mel Mello Sr. Grand Champion Growers Jacket.

Black Gold said it was "so happy to be a part of this exciting journey" with the world record-breaking pumpkin. "So glad this record is back in [the] United States," the brand added.

"This year I added their dry Kelp Meal and Crab & Lobster Shell soil amendments to prolong my plant growth and help catapult my pumpkin to a new WORLD RECORD 2749 lbs.!" he said, according to Neptune's Harvest.

Gienger's 2,560-pound pumpkin won the 2022 event and set a new North American record. He also won the 2020 event with a 2,350-pound gourd.

The pumpkins were weighed on a 5-ton capacity, industrial-strength digital scale and placed using forklifts and special harnesses, with officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures monitoring.

Event organizers said they had to buy the new scale specifically for Gienger's pumpkin, which was more than 7.5 feet wide.

Pumpkins are required to be grown, cared for and entered by the weigh-off contestant. Pumpkins are also required to be in healthy and undamaged condition, free of rot, holes and cracks through the cavity, chemical residue and soft spots.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

2. Ron Root/Nick Kennedy, Citrus Heights, California, 2,497 pounds ($3,000)

3. Leonardo Urena, Napa, California, 1,893 pounds ($2,500)

4. Ruben Frias, American Canyon, California, 1,863 pounds ($2,000)

5. Dave Chan, Richmond, British Columbia, 1,632 pounds ($1,000)

6. Joshua Venters, Redmond, Washington, 1,549 pounds ($1,000)

7. Andy Marden, Napa, California, 1,548 pounds ($1,000)

8. Mike Alves, Willows, California, 1,543 pounds ($1,000)

9. Gary Miller, Napa, California, 1,519 pounds ($1,000)

10. Don Bollinger, Monte Sereno, California, 1,499 pounds ($1,000)

Special prizes included:

Biggest from California: Ron Root/Nick Kennedy, Citrus Heights, California, 2,497 pounds ($1,000)

Biggest from the Coastside: Holly Winnen, Half Moon Bay, California, 154 pounds ($1,000)

Most Beautiful Pumpkin/Howard Dill Award: Eric Carlson, Portola Valley, California ($1,000)

© Miramar Events | weighoff.miramarevents.com

Seeds are planted in the spring (April for most growers). Giant pumpkins can gain as much as 50 pounds a day, and once they're cut from the vine, they lose an average weight of 6-8 pounds a day. The seed varietal used to grow giant pumpkins is Atlantic Giant.

The event — which is open only to growers of giant competition-sized pumpkins — started in 1974 as a light-hearted contest between Circleville, Ohio, and Half Moon Bay, California, two cities both proclaiming to be the Pumpkin Capital of the World who faced off in the first head-to-head pumpkin weigh-off. (That first year, Half Moon Bay’s 132-pound pumpkin won by one pound, with the city securing the title of Pumpkin Capital of the World.)

Half Moon Bay serves as an officially sanctioned Great Pumpkin Commonwealth site. The GPC is the major sanctioning body overseeing giant pumpkin growing competitions, with more than 70 weigh-off locations throughout the world. “Our relationship with the GPC gives pumpkin growers added incentive to bring their biggest to Half Moon Bay and puts us in the mix for a potential world record,” said Cameron Palmer of the Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off. “Giant pumpkin growers bring extraordinary dedication and enthusiasm to their craft and we’re delighted to support and be part of their organization,” said Palmer.

The pumpkin boom can be traced back to growers in the area who began to plant pumpkins in the 1930s, with teenager John Arata and his brother Clarence planting pumpkin seeds to to feed the family’s hogs. One day, they were hauling some of their pumpkins along Highway One back to the farm when a passing motorist stopped and asked if he could buy a few. They sold the pumpkins for a quarter, and a booming pumpkin-picking business and tourist attraction was born.