Prize-Winning Pumpkin Weighs 1,528 Pounds

by Jon Azpiri | October 14, 2008 at 01:04 pm

1326 views | 4 Recommendations | 12 comments

Thad Starr of Oregon won the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off with a pumpkin that weighed in at a whopping 1,528 pounds. It was Starr's second victory at the contest, which hands out $6 a pound to the grower of the heaviest pumpkin. Starr ended up winning more than $9,000.

Starr grew the winning pumpkin using the seeds from the 1,500-pound pumpkin he grew to win the 2007 pumpkin contest. In addition to good genes, he attributes his victory to excellent soil and plenty of TLC.

A self-described "obsessive nerd," the 41-year-old father of two spent two hours a day with the six giant pumpkin contenders he grew in a greenhouse behind his home — adjusting, snipping and watering.

He put a heating coil in the soil to keep the roots at a constant temperature of 70 degrees. He mixed a signature fertilizer potion of worm casings, alfalfa meal and molasses and fed it to the pumpkins every week.

And when it came time for his pumpkin to make the long, bumpy trip to Half Moon Bay, he appropriated an old futon to cushion it.

"I had a greenhouse inside my greenhouse because it was so freezing for a while. I think when you become a giant pumpkin grower, you go kind of nuts. Our saying is 'whatever it takes,' " said Starr, who has been growing giant pumpkins for three years.

In one of life's little ironies, Starr wasn't even expecting the pumpkin that won to be able to compete. For months it was the runt of the litter, but then it had a sudden growth spurt and gained 900 pounds in August at an extraordinary rate of 30 pounds a day.

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rpshen

at 13:09 on October 14th, 2008

That's a very large pumpkin!

fallsguyd

at 13:44 on October 14th, 2008

Grow-Moore Farms .. Early October

fallsguyd has contributed a photo to this story.

fallsguyd

at 13:46 on October 14th, 2008

I entered as my password " i don't have a password nor do I want one". It was accepted! Very strange. But for any future communications involving my pictures. I really don't wish to share my Flickr pictures if I must establish a legitimate password....OK?

David Rice

MaryAnn B. Doherty

at 15:07 on October 14th, 2008

Riley Farms, Oak Glen, CA.

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mgupta34

at 15:17 on October 14th, 2008

Congratulations to the winner!!

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harraton

at 16:49 on October 14th, 2008

This pumpkin was spotted at a rest stop in NY, heading west along I-86.

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Simones Photography

at 18:07 on October 14th, 2008

Congrats to Thad Starr, thats really impressive. This is also a great story!

PepOmint

at 03:33 on October 15th, 2008

These are pumpkins we grew ourselves for this fall season. Overall, we were quite pleased!

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B3OK

at 06:57 on October 15th, 2008

B3OK Pumpkin Stroll ~ Take part and Share what you know...

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kayfouroh

at 10:02 on October 15th, 2008

My girlfriend and I went pumpkin picking on weekend, in the beginning of the season, and we discovered that someone left one of the largest pumpkins in the area all alone. We picked it up and snapped this quick shot, pumpkin weighs around 50lbs and it's still kicking.

kayfouroh has contributed a photo to this story.

kayfouroh

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:05 on October 15th, 2008

Jon Azpiri, I like this story. It's good stuff. My girlfriend is in it :)