Local
Coventry grower’s 3,156-pound pumpkin becomes world’s heaviest
Ron Wallace set a Guinness World Record at Warren’s Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, becoming the first grower to produce a pumpkin weighing more than 3,000 pounds. The 60-year-old credited greenhouse growing, favorable weather and a more scientific approach.
A pumpkin grown by Ron Wallace of Coventry weighed 3,156 pounds at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Warren on Oct. 10, earning him the Guinness World Record for the heaviest pumpkin and making it the first to top 3,000 pounds.
Great Pumpkin Commonwealth officials inspected the pumpkin and confirmed it met competition standards before it was weighed at Frerichs Farm. The result surpassed the previous record, set a week earlier by British grower Ian Paton, whose pumpkin weighed nearly 2,857 pounds.
Wallace, 60, said this was his first season growing in a greenhouse. He credited nearly ideal weather and a more scientific approach to cultivation for the record-setting harvest.
He told Guinness World Records he was thrilled when he saw the official weight after a long growing season. The achievement is Wallace’s third world record in about 35 years of growing giant pumpkins.
In 2006, Wallace set a record with a 1,502-pound pumpkin, the first to exceed 1,500 pounds. Six years later, he became the first grower to break the 2,000-pound mark, with a 2,009-pound pumpkin.
Wallace is considering taking next year off to complete projects on his farm, though he has not made a final decision.