A colossal pumpkin grown by a Hampshire man has been certified as the heaviest ever produced by a single grower, tipping the scales at 2,856.8 pounds (1,295.8 kilograms) at a recent British competition.
Ian Paton, 65, of Lymington in the English county of Hampshire, cultivated the record-breaking gourd, which was weighed at the Wargrave Nursery Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off. The specimen, named Bagheera after the black panther in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, outweighed a white rhino and a Volkswagen Beetle.
Paton, a veteran grower with 50 years of experience alongside his brother Stuart, undertook his first solo attempt this year. Together, the brothers had set the world record for a giant pumpkin just last year. Paton described the solo effort as "bloody hard work," noting that he devoted six hours daily during the growing season to tending the plant, which required 130 gallons of water per day as it matured.
Gerald Short, a Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth-Certified Judge, remarked at the Wargrave Weigh-Off, according to Guinness World Records, which observed the event: "In the 100 million years that fruiting plants have existed on planet Earth, this is the heaviest and by a long way simply the most massive specimen ever to have existed in all that time. If that's not the very definition of awesome, I don't know what is!"
Bagheera surpassed last year's entry by 45 pounds, though its 20-foot circumference did not exceed the record for fattest pumpkin, which remains held by Ian and Stuart's 2025 pumpkin. The achievement is particularly notable given the unprecedented heatwave that scorched the UK this summer, testing the resilience of the plant.
Following its display, Bagheera will be repurposed as cow feed, ensuring the mammoth squash serves a practical end after its record-setting debut.