Horticulture instructor Travis Gienger from Minnesota set a new world record with his colossal pumpkin, which weighed a staggering 2,749 pounds.

Travis Gienger broke the record at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. His pumpkin surpassed the previous record by 47 pounds, set in 2021 by Italy’s Stefano Cutrupi.

“This pumpkin is called Michael Jordan because it's the year [20]23… and he's the greatest basketball player of all time,” Gienger told KSTP-TV in Minnesota. It “started out basketball round, and I said this is going to be a perfectly round basketball-shaped pumpkin,” Gienger added.

Nicknamed Michael Jordan, the pumpkin grew into a massive, lumpy, orange gourd, equivalent to about 2,110 basketballs or 275 jack-o'-lanterns. For context, basketball legend Michael Jordan weighed 216 pounds during his NBA career.

Gienger invested approximately $15,000 in nurturing and maintaining the pumpkin in his backyard. He then transported it from Minnesota to California for the competition, as reported by SFGate.

As a 43-year-old landscape and horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College, Gienger has been growing pumpkins since his teenage years, continuing a family tradition. He has claimed victory in three of the past four Pumpkin Weigh-Off competitions. This year, he received $30,000 and a Super Bowl ring designed by a local jeweler. He mentioned to SFGate his plans to use the prize money to cultivate an even larger pumpkin next year.

“I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people's faces, and it's just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” he expressed.

Many of Gienger’s competitors on Monday hailed from nearby Napa and Sonoma. The cold Minnesota climate often poses challenges for pumpkin growing, with spring temperatures fluctuating from very hot to near freezing.

Second-place winner Nick Kennedy shared his passion for pumpkin growing, telling local news outlets, “It has to be a labor of love. Watching these things grow – this thing grew 66lbs a day at its peak so it's like watching a balloon blow up in front of you, basically,” he told ABC 7.

The top three pumpkins will be displayed in Half Moon Bay through next weekend, allowing visitors to take photos with the giant gourds.

[Source: theguardian.com]