– credit, Ian Paton
This seismic squash was just certified as the largest ever grown by a man at a recent British competition.
When volunteers at the Wargrave Nursery Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off finally hoisted the specimen onto the scale, the reading was simply incredible—2,856.8lbs (1,295.8kg)
It’s heavier than a white rhino, heavier than a Volkswagen Beetle, and when compared to other record-breaking pumpkins of history, stands alone as the undisputed pumpkin-g of the mountain.
Ian Paton, from Lymington in the English county of Hampshire, says he spent 6 hours a day during the growing season tending the gargantuan gourd. 65-year-old Paton is a master, having grown giant produce for 50 years alongside his brother Stuart.
Together, the two men broke the world record for a giant pumpkin just last year.
This year’s competition at Wargrave, however, was Ian’s first attempt at growing solo, and it turned out to be “bloody hard work.” As it became clear the pumpkin was going to become a king, it required 130 gallons of water per day.
Paton named it Bagheera, after the black panther from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
“In the 100 million years that fruiting plants have existed on planet Earth, this is the heaviest and by a long way simply the most massive specimen ever to have existed in all that time. If that’s not the very definition of awesome, I don’t know what is!” Gerald Short, Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth-Certified Judge, said at the Wargrave Weigh-Off, according to Guinness World Records, which was also there to observe.
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Bagheera was 45 pounds heavier than last year’s contestant, but was rather more lean. Its official circumference of 20 feet actually failed to set a world record for fattest pumpkin—an honor held by Ian and Stuart’s 2025 pumpkin.
When one considers that the UK was scorched by something of an unprecedented heatwave this summer, Paton’s achievement, as well as Bagheera’s resilience, seems all the more marvelous.
Upon its passing, Bagheera will be used as cow feed.
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