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Baitman had his 1,673 lb. pumpkin parked under a
shade tree at the front of the property at Gail’s. He offered
several displays to explain how he had grown the great pumpkin and
answered questions from visitors.
On the back side of the pumpkin, a square was cut out so that people
could see the thickness of the pumpkin wall and what the inside
looked like.
Baitman said he wasn’t sure how long the pumpkin would last, but he
is doing what he can to preserve it as long as possible. He noted
that he sprays powdered sulfur on the inside of the pumpkin to help
slow down the decaying process and had a sign posted on the pumpkin
advising guests not to touch the pumpkin.
Asked if he worries about the pumpkin collapsing when transported,
he said that he really doesn’t worry about it too much. He talked
about the thickness of the meat wall and said that the pumpkin could
easily withstand a 200 pound man standing on it.
This is Baitman’s first win though he has been growing the giant
pumpkins since 2016. He also noted that when he took his pumpkin to
the competition, there was one there that was larger in overall
size, but Baitman’s pumpkin, though physically smaller, outweighed
the other one by 14 pounds.
Baitman shared some interesting facts about growing the pumpkin,
such as it can gain more than 2 pounds per hour or 50 pounds per day
during its peak growing period. It takes 80 to 100 gallons of water
per day to make the pumpkin grow.
While the pumpkin looked pretty darn big, the fact is, it is several
hundred pounds short of the Illinois and World records. The world
record largest pumpkin grown weighed in at 2,640.6 pounds and was
grown from an Illinois seed. The state record pumpkin weighed
2,145.5 pounds.
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[Nila Smith]
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