Gary Grande’s enthusiasm for gardening began at age 6 when he pilfered seeds from his mother when she wasn’t looking. Now he gladly shares his seeds with anyone who asks, and dozens of gardeners have taken him up on his offer. He has sent seeds to backyard growers all over the world.
These aren’t just any garden-variety seeds. Grande is obsessed with growing great pumpkins. In 2005 his personal best tipped the scale at 425 pounds.
“My goal is to go after the state record for heaviest pumpkin,” he says. According to Grande, the Colorado heavyweight champ weighed in at 1009 pounds and was grown by Joe Scherber of Wheat Ridge in 2000.
Why grow Cucurbita maxima?
“They’re freaks of nature, like a pumpkin on steroids,” Grande says. Each summer he spends equal amounts of time working with Mother Nature – and trying to outsmart her, too. Growing giant pumpkins in Colorado is especially challenging because of the short growing season, weather extremes and pumpkin-pounding hail.
Every grower takes a different approach to growing the giants. Some remove the seed coat before germinating, and others use special soil. Seeds are started in greenhouses with special misting systems and heating coils placed in the soil. Grande says it can quickly become a science project.
He isn’t alone in his pursuit of growing a monster. Hundreds of growers across the country spend every gardening moment from April to October trying to grow a pumpkin of epic proportions.
Want to try it?
You need some space.
Grande says gardeners need to have a 10-by-10 foot growing area for a 400-pounder or a 20-by-20-foot patch for anything bigger. He advises using a good, high-genetic seed like Dill’s Atlantic Giant and planting in May after the soil warms.
During the height of the summer, vines can grow a foot each day and pumpkins can put on 30 pounds a day.
“One guy swears he could hear his pumpkin growing while he was in his garden,” Grande says. But if pumpkins grow too quickly, they can blow up and spit seeds at least 6 feet away.
For beginners trying their hand at growing the giants for competition, Grande recommends planning ahead for getting the pumpkin from the yard and into the truck for the weigh-off.
The best methods for learning how to grow a giant are reading books, looking at websites and getting to know an experienced grower. Grande says the growers he knows are willing to share everything, even seeds.
For serious competitors, pumpkins are weighed at Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) sites to determine local and regional winners. The GPC is an international organization that sets standards for weigh-off contests around the world. The GPC relies on officially sanctioned sites, like Jared’s Nursery in Littleton, to follow rules governing local weigh-offs.
Grande attended the International Giant Vegetable Growers Convention in Niagara, Ontario, earlier this year as a Colorado delegate. Giant vegetable growers from the U.S. and Canada meet annually to exchange seeds, discuss new growing techniques and honor the champions. Prizes are awarded to heaviest pumpkin, longest gourd, heaviest squash and other giant vegetables.
Ron Wallace’s 1,502-pound pumpkin, grown in Rhode Island, set a world record for heaviest pumpkin.
To raise the bar on the local competition, Grande has started the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers organization. The nonprofit’s goal is to encourage giant vegetable growers from this area of the country. “People can try growing 5- to 7-pound tomatoes or a 200-pound watermelon,” he says.
The clock is ticking for growers interested in competing this year. Sept. 29 is the date for the weigh-off at Jared’s. Grande says he’ll provide the seeds. Contact him at ColoradoPumpkins.com.
