Minnesota Man Breaks Record With 2,560-Pound Pumpkin

A Minnesota man recently grew a record-breaking 2,560-pound pumpkin, according to ABC-7 News.

Travis Gienger of Anoka won the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay with his massive pumpkin, which he named "Maverick." According to officials, Maverick is the largest pumpkin ever grown in North American history.

Gienger drove Maverick 35 hours all the way from Anoka, the Halloween Capital of the World, to Half Moon Bay, the Pumpkin Capital of the World. "I always tell people back home, this is like the Super Bowl of pumpkins," he told ABC-7 News.

"This size, I've been hitting it with fertilizer 14 times a day, watering quite a bit but I had a really big plant too, most people don't understand this was like a 2,000 square foot plant that was just a monster," he added (via ABC-7 News).

Gienger will take home a prize of $9 per pound for winning the championship, which adds up to $23,040, according to ABC-7 News. Unfortunately, Gienger did not break the World Record, which would have given him an extra $30,000 grand prize. The World Record is currently held by Stefano Cutrupi for a pumpkin weighing in at 2,703-pounds at a 2021 weigh-off in Italy.

This is only Gienger's second time competing in the championship, according to ABC-7 News. He also holds the 2020 championship title for a pumpkin that weighed 2,350-pounds.