A British farmer recently broke his own Guinness World Record for the world's largest pumpkin.
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Ian Paton brought his larger-than-life pumpkin to the Wargrave Nursery Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Berkshire, where it officially weighed in at 2,856.8 pounds.
The humongous pumpkin, weighed on Oct. 3 with a Guinness World Records adjudicator present, broke the previous record of 2,819.25 pounds set in 2025.
Growing a pumpkin that large is no stroke of luck, either. Paton explained the intensive care and premium resources required to grow a record-breaking pumpkin.
The British grandfather said he tended to the pumpkin for six hours daily, according to The Independent. He revealed that the gigantic pumpkin received a staggering 130 gallons of water per day.
British Farmer Explains Process of Growing Massive Pumpkins
Paton grew last year's record pumpkin with his twin brother, Stuart. This time around, he broke the record solo.
"It's five or six hours of work every day for two months. It's nice to know I can do it myself," Paton said, adding, "A lot of that work is burying the vines so it gets more roots. That's where the size comes from."
Payton also detailed how much the pumpkin grows over time.
"The pumpkin grows about a foot and a half, or 40 centimeters, a day in every direction. So it starts to get to be a lot.
"I think someone Googled it and said it's the size of a female hippo. It's certainly very heavy."
Paton realized the pumpkin could surpass his previous record when the telehandler used to lift it triggered the weight overload alerts.
"I'm super happy. On Saturday we broke the world record.
"I knew it was a big one, as when I lifted it with the telehandler, all the warning lights came on like a Christmas tree, saying it was too heavy," he said.
When Paton video-called his family, they were elated by the size of the record-breaking pumpkin.
"The grandkids were amazed. I put it on a WhatsApp call to them when I won and you could hear them shouting down the phone," Paton told the outlet.
"Between Stuart and myself, we have got five out of the top 10 heaviest pumpkins in the world. But now I have grown the top one, two and three in the world. That feels really good.
Paton said that the pumpkin will remain on display for weeks before being fed to cows.
