We’ve been trying to grow a giant pumpkin this year, but think that we’re going to have to concede that “Shrimpy” isn’t going to be a record breaker.  the plant took off quite nicely and we tried to trim off the side shoots and early flowers to focus the plant’s energy.  It was looking promising in July when we selected our first fruit at the tip of the plant.

Giant Pumpkin 21 July 2016

Unfortunately the first fruit that we selected didn’t develop properly and had to be removed after a couple of weeks meaning that we had to wait for another one to be set (we’d been assiduously removing any competitors before this).

Within another six weeks the plant had shot on and the next fruit had started to develop.

Pumpkin Plant 4 September

It had developed nicely, and we had to slide a builder’s bag underneath it to help us harvest it, but it was too late in the season for it to become a real giant.

Not Quite Giant Pumpkin

At just over 20 kg (50lb) it was big enough to make a lot of soup, but was no show stopper. Better luck next year!