British grower raises record-breaking pumpkin weighing nearly 1.3 tonnes

British grower Ian Paton has raised the world’s heaviest pumpkin, weighing 1,295.8 kilograms (2,856.8 pounds). Named Bagheera after the panther in The Jungle Book, it was officially weighed under a Guinness World Records adjudicator’s supervision at the Wargrave Nursery Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Berkshire, England, on 3 October.

Paton, a 65-year-old plant nursery owner from Hampshire, has grown pumpkins with his twin brother, Stuart, for more than 50 years. Together, they set the previous world record last year. This time, Ian entered the competition solo for the first time and surpassed their shared achievement.

The result required sustained attention. Paton spent up to six hours a day tending his pumpkin patch for two months. During the hottest spells, temperatures inside the greenhouse reached 40°C, and the pumpkin plants received up to 590 litres of water a day. He says greenhouse growing provides an early start and a long enough season for pumpkins to reach their full potential.

Bagheera is now on display at Sunnyfields Farm near Southampton until the end of October, after which it will be fed to cows. Paton, meanwhile, already has another target in mind: a 3,000-pound pumpkin.