Have you ever been so awestruck by something that it seemed straight out of a movie? That is exactly what crossed my mind after first seeing a giant pumpkin for the first time. Everyday on my daily drive to school I would pass by a garden alongside a house in my neighborhood. I did not think anything of it until I began to notice a pumpkin growing ever larger by the day. I later came to find out that this pumpkin was the proud work of Michael McLaughlin, whose hobby of growing giant pumpkins has turned heads for all who drive by his fantastical spectacle of a garden. His pumpkin currently weighs around 800 pounds, and continues to grow daily. On October 5th he plans to take it to a weigh-off nearby in Lake Zurich, with hopes of breaking his personal record and maybe even breaking into the top five.
Like every hobby, you have to start small and grow with both experience and knowledge as you go, the same is true for this story. Michael started by growing an average 25-30 pound pumpkin in his former townhome, just for the fun of it. The following year he moved into his new home, and the great big garden area that came with it. With this extra space he was really able to take his hobby to the next level, by the end of his second year pumpkin growing, he had grown a 75 pound pumpkin, smashing through his previous years weight. With every year he learned from his mistakes and kept going bigger, leading him to this year’s personal best of 750 pounds so far, and he projects it could reach close to 850 pound!
After learning about the backstory to this miraculous feat, I was interested to know more about how the life cycle of this enormous pumpkin compared to your regular backyard pumpkin. The life cycle of a giant pumpkin starts with its seed, which can be bought from a large pumpkin to insure that its genetics will allow it to grow very large. The process of planting takes place indoors, during mid April. You may ask yourself, why mid April? Well, this is simply because you want to give the seed time to grow in a favorable environment, away from the frost and cold temperatures that frequent our brisk midwestern springs. As a result of this growers are forced to create what is called a “hoop house”, where you insulate the plant with heat lamps and blankets in order to speed up the overall growth. As the temperatures warm for May and June you can plant your pumpkin outside and allow it to grow until around mid to late June, when the pumpkin has flowered and it is ready for pollination. You pollinate the pumpkin towards the end of June or early July, so you can get as much time for rapid growth as possible. The main battle during the rest of the time leading up to the final weigh-off is keeping the pumpkin free of pests and creating the ideal growing conditions. The most common pests that can affect growth include the squash vine bores. These insects eat away at the vines that are key to providing nutrients to the pumpkin and maintaining steady growth. These pests can be prevented with daily insecticide spraying. Temperature is probably the single most important part of natural pumpkin growth. If the weather is too cold or too hot the pumpkin will not grow as fast, compared to the “Goldilox” zone temperatures, which usually range between 65 and 80 degrees.
As you approach the weigh in day, one important thing to look out for is cracks or breaches in your pumpkin, which could get it disqualified at weigh ins.
At the beginning of every pumpkin season Michael gets a soil test, which can give him information about what nutrients the soil is low on and how much he will need to add. Some of the main nutrients used are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, each added when the plant needs it. Nitrogen is used during the growth stage of the initial plant, where it will be using lots of stored nitrogen to grow more leaves. Phosphorus is used primarily during the flowering stage, and the actual pumpkin growth requires a lot of potassium.
One of the main questions that pops into the mind of anyone eager to try out pumpkin growing, or any hobby for that matter is: how much will it cost me? The cost of growing a pumpkin depends on the person, whether you want to go all in, or just try it out in your spare time. The majority of costs will come from watering, equipment such as a pallet, and the use of different minerals in the soil.
After learning all of this about the pumpkin growing process, I found that there is truly a lot more effort and special care that goes into growing a giant pumpkin than previously thought. I still had one question on my mind, can you make pumpkin pie out of this pumpkin? Yes, you can but because of how much water is stored in a pumpkin of this size, it could cause it to be sour or bland in flavor. After getting to know Michael and his family I really learned a lot about the pumpkin growing process , and the amount of care and time that goes into it.
