RON WALLACE: I weighed my pumpkin, and it ended up being the world's first 3,000-pound pumpkin. It was 3,156 pounds.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
That's Ron Wallace. It's the third time the Rhode Island gardener has held the Guinness World Record for heaviest pumpkin.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. He grew his gargantuan gourd in a greenhouse and gave it dozens of gallons of water a day.
WALLACE: These plants are treated and cared for like babies from the minute they go in the ground until they get harvested.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Leila, in a situation like this, how would you think someone would want to squash - squash - the competition?
FADEL: Such a dad joke, but OK. Let's keep going. I'm guessing you can't just use any old pumpkin seed?
MARTÍNEZ: You are correct, Leila. You are correct. It's like breeding horses - comes down to genetics. Maine gardener Sarah Whitty says extreme growers get Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds and then protect the plants from contamination.
SARAH WHITTY: All of us control our pollination, so we don't let the bees get anywhere near the flowers. We know the exact genetics of our fruit down to the great-great- great-grandfathers. That's the most important thing to getting them big - is just getting something that has been selectively bred to be big.
FADEL: Whitty says many prize-winning plants get displayed at festivals after they win.
WHITTY: Some of them get turned into boats. So you hollow out the pumpkin, and it'll float in the water. And we have a fun little pumpkin regatta boat race with some of the pumpkins. We have a pumpkin drop. So we just drop the pumpkins from a crane 170 feet in the air and just smash things.
FADEL: Eventually, they'll end up in a compost bin for next year's harvest or get donated somewhere to be truly appreciated.
WHITTY: The zoo animals and the farm animals love them, so they'll eat them as well.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Wallace says after his 3,000-pound pumpkin's celebrity life is over, he'll harvest the seeds and give them to growers' clubs across the country.
WALLACE: The goal now is 3,500 pounds. Who can get there first? Keep working with growers. Keep the genetics improving. Keep studying, researching. And, you know, maybe I can put a 3,500-pounder on the scale.
FADEL: Later this month, he says, a team will attempt to turn the world's largest pumpkin into the world's largest jack-o'-lantern.
MARTÍNEZ: Leila, I have so many pumpkins in my house right now. I tripped over one a few days ago.
FADEL: Really?
MARTÍNEZ: And Mrs. A goes, is the pumpkin OK? Doesn't care...
FADEL: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Doesn't care about me - just the pumpkin.
FADEL: Oh, Mrs. A.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FADEL: Love her.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TODAY")
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS: (Singing) Today is the greatest... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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