Pumpkins, onions and parsnips on display at giant vegetables competition

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Louise Thomas

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Huge pumpkins, cucumbers and parsnips were on display ahead of a giant vegetables competition in Worcestershire, with one horticulturist calling the growing of them a “strange sport”.

The CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship is often a source of new Guinness World Records for spectacularly large examples as growers display their giant produce.

The world’s heaviest pumpkins, longest runner beans and biggest chilli peppers are just some of the 31 adult classes that can be entered by giant vegetable enthusiasts at the Malvern Autumn Show, running from September 27-29.

This year’s competition includes a class for the heaviest cantaloupe melon, with £1,000 prize money for the winner.

Horticulturist Ian Paton, 63, told the PA news agency he started growing giant pumpkins with his brother Stuart about 50 years ago and he “shares the highs, shares the lows” of giant vegetable growing with him.

He said: “Our first pumpkin was 56 pounds and we got the pumpkin sickness then and now we want the world record. We’re really close to it, very close to it.”

A massive pumpkin named Michael Jordan currently holds the world record for the largest pumpkin, at 2,749lb.

Pumpkins are “such cool things to grow” because they expand so rapidly, Mr Paton, based in Lymington, Hampshire, said.

Asked about the brothers’ secret to growing giant pumpkins, he said: “Obviously, first and foremost, the biggest thing would be good genetics like a racehorse – you cross a good one with a good one, you get a good one, same with pumpkins.

“And then we have to grow them inside because it’s too cold.

“It’s a lot of work, probably up to 130 litres of water per plant per day when they’re growing quickly.

“It’s just a lot of work – six hours a day looking after six plants and that’s shared between two of us. That’s for about three months, plus getting it ready and the ground ready at the start.”

Mr Paton talked about the difficulty of giant pumpkin growing.

He said: “Growing pumpkins is a brutal sport, believe me, because things can go wrong really quickly. I mean, unfortunately, last year, we lost all six. That doesn’t normally happen to us, but it’s a strange sport.”

Elsewhere there will be Grow to Show classes in the Harvest Pavilion, where amateur growers of fruit, flowers and vegetables will compete to garner awards in more than 100 individual classes.

The winners go through to compete for the coveted Best in Section accolade.

The RHS Flower Show will be attended by more than 40 specialist nurseries and growers, who will be creating displays and offering expert advice and opportunities to buy top-quality plants.