British twin brothers are hoping to snatch back a world record for the biggest pumpkin, but there are plenty of other challengers around the world. The biggest of the champion gourds can outweigh an adult rhino at weights approaching 3,000 pounds.
Ian and Stuart Paton from Lymington, Hampshire, have five pumpkins growing for the challenge; they say that “We’ve got two with an outside chance of breaking the record, one with a reasonable chance of breaking the record and two with a definite chance of breaking the record. They are massive; it’s ridiculous.” That record currently stands at 2,749 pounds set last year.
Weigh-ins are staged at sites around the globe starting in Australia and including Alaska, California and the UK. The Patons’ pumpkins are growing at a rate of 70 pounds a day, and take in up to 300 liters of water a day.
