This article was originally written by Adam Dutton for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
Believe it or not, the massive gourd pictured above is small potatoes compared to the current Guinness World Record holder for heaviest pumpkin — but it still turned heads at an annual produce contest, where it had to be forklifted into place.
While the seasonal squash didn’t clinch a spot in the famed records book, some other enormous specimens did, including another by the same grower. Held Sept. 25-27 in Worcestershire, England, the 2026 National Giant Vegetables Championship attracted some 65,000 visitors. Among them were officials from Guinness, who verified that seven world records were set this year.
Graham Barratt, who had to transport his 1,000-plus pound pumpkin on a truck, had nine entries this year and went home with the honor of growing the world’s tallest cucumber plant, at nearly 25 feet.
Speaking to SWNS before the judging had concluded, though, Barratt shared his pride in the orange gourd, calling its weight “a personal best.”
He added: “With pumpkins, the skin thickness matters — you could have a giant pumpkin with a really thin skin and it not weigh as much. We measured it and it came out with a 130-inch circumference.”
He said he was lucky to have a gardening plot in Gloucestershire: “It’s on a farm, and they’ve given me a polytunnel to grow giant pumpkins in. At the end they’ve got forklifts and tractors who lift it on a low loader, and then we drive it up here. It’s a lot of hard work.”
And the 67-year-old wasn’t shy about sharing his secret for growing vegetables as big as possible. “I tend to give all my methods away,” he said. “It’s a case of feeding the soil. Barratt explained that as the plants grow, they take a lot of nutrients out of the ground, so it’s important to replenish what was lost — something he does using liquid seaweed.
Serial winner Joe Atherton, 71, who bagged the world record for the longest radish in 2024 and 2025, returned this year with 20 entries, including a nearly 29-pound cantaloupe and giant onions that weighed almost 41 pounds combined.
He didn’t end up with another world record, but he did share his own advice for growing enormous veg: “It’s all about getting the right seeds, and a bit of know-how,” he said. “You get that stage right and then everything else fits in.”
Peter Glazebrook, 82, has been growing giant produce for four decades. Though he experienced difficulties this year due to the hot, dry weather, he clinched the world record for heaviest sweetcorn kernel, weighing in at 0.8 pounds. His beetroot, however, which was a little over 25 pounds, was no match for Vincent Sjodin’s, a 57-pound monstrosity that took the honor on that front.
Sjodin also earned the world record for heaviest sunflower head, at a touch over 17 pounds. Kevin Fortey’s tromboncino became the world’s longest, at 4.8 feet, while Terry King grew the world’s longest dandelion root, at just under 3.7 feet.
“Growing giant vegetables doesn’t just happen,” Glazebrook said, reiterating his competitors’ insight. “You need the right seed.”
RELATED: Pumpkins’ Journey From Ancient Food Staple to Spicy Fall Obsession Spans Thousands of Years
Share to:
