EAST CANTON, Ohio — Charlie Brown may spend every Halloween waiting for the Great Pumpkin, but Northeast Ohio already has one.
And this one weighed 2,513 pounds.
Adam Momirov grew the enormous pumpkin in his East Canton backyard, where it became the heaviest pumpkin ever grown in Ohio.
The Stark County grower set the state record earlier this month during the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers weigh-off in Canfield, squashing the previous Ohio mark by eight pounds.
“It was shocking, absolutely shocking,” Momirov said. “I got very emotional with growing something that big.”
Momirov’s pumpkin placed second overall behind an entry from Pennsylvania and earned him $9,000.
The giant pumpkin began as a single seed planted in April in Momirov’s 3,400-square-foot backyard pumpkin patch.
There was no magic potion involved, Momirov said. Instead, growing a pumpkin to extreme proportions meant concentrating on plant health, including fungicides, insecticides, fertilizer and a lot of water, sometimes as much as 100 gallons a day.
The pumpkin eventually became a roadside attraction of its own.
“I've had so many people stop, slow down along the road here and they'll even pull in my driveway and come down and say, ‘Is that what I think it is?’” Momirov said.
When competition time arrived, Momirov faced another problem: How do you move a pumpkin that weighs more than a ton?
A team used ropes, straps and an excavator to carefully load the giant pumpkin.
“It takes a couple of hours to really, you know, make sure you do it right,” Momirov said.
Bill Hendricks of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers said competitors take giant-pumpkin growing seriously, calling it a sport.
“There’s 133 weigh-off sites and there’s a lot of going back and forth between other groups: ‘We’re going to beat you. You’re going to beat us,’” Hendricks said.
Momirov's record pumpkin has since been cut up in his backyard for deer to eat, but he plans to keep growing.
His advice for anyone wanting to grow a giant of their own?
“Don't worry about what everybody else is growing, just try to work on your best.”
