An enormous pumpkin, weighing 560 pounds, is drawing plenty of attention at the New Mexico State Fair.
“I grow a few vegetables, and they get nowhere near this big,” Antonio Carrillo, a visitor at the fair, told KRQE News. “It’s giant.”
Another visitor, Tommi Tejeda, said, “I couldn’t imagine trying to lift it up and put it in my grocery cart.”
Aaron Price and his family grew the massive plant in their Edgewood garden. Price told KRQE News that the pumpkin “started about the size of a large grape, and then it turned out to be almost a little over 10 feet in circumference.”
Price said the pumpkin was growing up to 30 pounds in one night and consumed 50 gallons of water a day. It also needed a shaded cover to protect the fruit from the sun. Price said in other states, some farmers grow 2,300-pound pumpkins, but a 500-pound pumpkin in New Mexico is rare because of the heat.
The family believes they may have beaten the record in New Mexico for the largest pumpkin. They hope to double the size of their pumpkin next year.
“I think last we were seeing the state record was 532 pounds; we beat that by 28 pounds," Price told KRQE News. "And hopefully, that one will stick around and next year we’ll be able to double that weight.”
Price said seeds from another big pumpkin -- referred to as "seed genetics" -- are required in order to grow a gigantic pumpkin. They hope to share their massive-pumpkin seeds with other gardeners in the future.
