Leaders in the field: Inside the world of competitive giant pumpkin growing
For most people, pumpkins are a once-a-year, seasonal decoration. Mike Bedigan talks to those for whom growing them is not just a hobby, but a lifestyle
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October means pumpkins — whether it’s carving them up for Halloween jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin spice lattes or gourd themed decor.
But for some, the tradition is much more than a mere seasonal decoration — it’s a lifestyle, and a fiercely competitive one.
Jay Yohe is president of the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association (PGPA), a group of more than 100 members who are passionate about pushing pumpkin plants to the extreme. Though the process is year-round, fall is, of course, peak season.
“Right now is harvest time for the giant pumpkin growers,” Yohe tells The Independent. “Everybody’s waiting to see what everybody else’s weigh.”
This isn’t just a local sport — the PGPA is part of the wider Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) with a worldwide membership exceeding 1,000 growers across over 100 clubs, all trying to grow the biggest orange calabaza they can.
The average giant pumpkin weighs around 1,000 pounds, though the world record currently stands at 2,749 pounds – slightly heavier than a Honda Fit.
The GPC contains what Yohe calls the “great pumpkin dynasties,” families who have been growing competitively for years – including Howard Dill, originator of Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin species, first trademarked in 1979.
But the most powerful in the competition world, those known for growing the biggest fruits (yes, it’s not technically a vegetable) and breaking records, are dubbed the “heavy hitters.”
Pennsylvania pumpkin fans Dave and Carol Stelts are heavy hitters, and fiercely proud of it.
“There are friendly rivalries, we’re all friends, but when it comes down to competition, there are no friends,” Dave Stelts tells The Independent.
Now 65, Stelts, has been in the game a long time, having started growing giant pumpkins with his father in the sixties. They started competing in 1992.
“My mom liked to decorate for the holiday, and my dad always said ‘well, we’re going to have those decorations for Halloween, we better have the biggest pumpkin we can have,’” Stelts said.
His biggest contribution in those days, his father told him, was his ability to talk to the plants – earning Stelts the family nickname “The Pumpkin Whisper.”
The moniker is well earned. Stelts and his wife Carol recently broke the Pennsylvania state record for heaviest pumpkin – with a monster weighing in at 2,464 pounds.
But, like all great champions, they yearn for more. With two more imminent weigh-offs, Stelts believes they will be submitting even heavier pumpkins, coming in at around 2,500 pounds each.
Such sizable squashes would finally put the Steltses in the coveted “6900-pound club” on the GPC website. Growing the top three heaviest pumpkins in the commonwealth would also earn them the title they have been seeking for years – Grower of The Year.
“There’s no doubt we are having a very good year,” he says. “We’ve already grown two over our personal best, and we got two more that should be larger than that. So we are really ready and anxious for that.”
So how does one reach such agricultural prestige? Simply put: soil quality, seed genetics, plenty of space and care.
“We grow really big plants. I’ve seen guys grow in plants that are 40 by 30 feet wide,” says Yohe. “So you’re looking at 1,200 square feet for one plant with one pumpkin. There’s a lot of keeping up with the watering. We try to keep our soil moist. Never let it dry out.
“Typically with these pumpkins, once you get one set between 20 and 40 days old, they can be putting on 40, 50, 60 pounds a day.”
After that, the grower must select a “keeper” – the vegetable that is deemed worthy of true greatness.
Growing season typically occurs from mid-April through to October, when the pumpkins are ripped up and prepared for competition. At the height of the season growers can expect to spend up to two hours on each plant, each day.
For the hardcore though, the hardest work comes in the off-season, with constant research on genetics and optimum soil PH. There are even informational seminars to share knowledge and network with other enthusiasts in the field.
“Even people that you compete against, they help each other just to try to push everybody to do better and be more successful,” Yohe says. It’s not a sentiment shared by all.
“I’m out to kick his ass just as much as he wants to kick my ass,” Stelts says, though he does so with a laugh. “And you know what? The more you win, the bigger the bullseye on your back.”
Stelts has a flatbed truck that can transport up to 3,000 pounds of veg. But with several behemoths still in the running this year, he’s not messing around, and will use his trailer which can support up to 14,000 pounds.
“We’re not playing second fiddle. We’re bringing it home this year,” he says.
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