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Competitive pumpkin growing is a thing!
A Minnesota gardener has his eye on a Guinness World Record after spending more than 200 days growing a massive pumpkin.
Travis Gienger of Anoka said the pumpkin he's been growing for months started out as a seed from the current world record pumpkin, a 2,702-pound gourd grown by Stefano Cutrupi in Italy in 2021.
Travis previously earned his own Guinness World Record when he carved a jack-o'-lantern from a 2,350-pound pumpkin in 2020. The pumpkin grower knew he was on to something when he was just 14. That year he grew a 447-pound pumpkin and has been growing them now for 28 years.
Travis said he will find out if his pumpkin took the record when it is officially weighed on Oct. 10 at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California.