A pumpkin which is heavier than three baby elephants has taken over a couple’s allotment.
Justin Griffiths and Kay Walker, from Ashtead, are the proud growers of the 860lb (390kg) produce, which now dominates their plot at the Leatherhead Poors Allotments.
The monster veg is an Atlantic Giant variety, which is known for ballooning to enormous sizes – but even the green-fingered pair admitted they didn’t expect it to get this large.
For comparison, a baby African elephant tips the scales at between 200 and 300lbs, meaning the festive flora weighs more than three of them combined.
Later this month, the couple plan to take the pumpkin to the UK National Giant Vegetables Championship at the Malvern Autumn Show.
On the plot they also have tomatoes and leeks and they used to grow carrots and potatoes but now the pumpkin has taken over.
Now the couple need to come up with a plan to move the giant pumpkin at the end of the month.
Speaking to the BBC, Justin suggested they could use an engine crane or ‘lots of people with a tarpaulin’.
Justin Griffiths and Kay Walker, from Ashtead, are the proud growers of the 860lb (390kg) vegetable, which now dominates their plot at the Leatherhead Poors Allotments
The couple also have a second pumpkin which is on the larger scale, estimated to weigh 250kg (560lbs).
According to the Guinness World Records, the heaviest pumpkin was weighed in California in 2023, coming in at 1,246.9 kg (2,749 lbs).
Last year two twin brothers smashed a British record after growing a monster pumpkin that weighed more than a tonne and was so big that it needed a crane to lift it onto scales at a county show.
Ian and Stuart Paton, 63, spent three hours a day for three months cultivating the gigantic 188 stone (1198.2kg) squash in Lymington, Hampshire.
They then ‘very carefully’ drove four-and-a-half hours to the Malvern Autumn Show in a bid for it to be crowned the ‘world’s heaviest pumpkin’.
Unfortunately, they fell just short of the world record 1,247kg but were delighted to set a new British record with their creation which weighs the same as a small car.
Green-fingered Ian said: ‘It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication.
‘Me and my twin brother work as a team and we spent three hours a day over three months tending to it each day.
Last year two twin brothers smashed a British record after growing a monster pumpkin that weighed more than a tonne and was so big that it needed a crane to lift it onto scales at a county show
‘We put the seeds down in April and then pollinate in June, they are quite fast growing and this one is 113 days old.
‘We drove it up in the back of a large Volvo very carefully, staying at around 50mph. You get some strange looks from other drivers that’s for sure.
‘Some people pull over further up the road and then follow you again just to get another look. They shout ‘is that real?’ and we shout back’ yep’.
‘Nobody is going to be heavier than this today, I’m very confident of that. The sponsors of the show are going to carve it up at the end.
‘They have a professional pumpkin carver. I’ve been told what they are going to turn it into but I’m sworn to secrecy. But it’s hilarious.’
