The great pumpkin: Ontario growers have 2016 hit-or-miss success

Ryan Hoelke admits his hobby might seem a little odd.

"It's insane is what it is," the Eganville, Ont., man said of growing giant pumpkins.

And by giant, we're not talking about really big pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns.

We're talking more than 680 kg (1,500 lbs) massive pumpkins that you need farm equipment to lift. A pumpkin close to the size of a Smart Car.

"They're 14 inches thick, so you'd need a pretty long knife" to carve them, Hoelke said with a laugh.

For Hoelke, it all started when his dad found some regular jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds at the store.

"At some point, I just started to try to grow them bigger and bigger and bigger," Hoelke recalled. Then he found giant pumpkin seeds and in high school, was growing 300 kg to 360 kg (700 to 800 lbs) pumpkins.

He took a break in university, but once he had his own home with a yard, he started his garden.

'A lot of work for a hobby'

Hoelkecultivatesthree plants,and forces eachvine tofocus on only one pumpkin. So other flower buds are picked off early to prevent multiple gourds.

Many giant vegetable growers use tarpaulinsto keep the pumpkins off the ground and protect the gourds from too much moisture and pests.

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"It's a lot of work for a hobby," Hoelke said.

During the hot summer, Hoelke relied on an automatic watering system, so his pumpkins did not suffer from being too dry.

It becomes this sort of game and it's hard to get out of once you start.- Giant pumpkin grower Ryan Hoelke

"I could control the water. I have a drip tubing system where it has about 500 emitters per plant and it drips slowly," he said. "I could water when I needed to."

To keep pests at bay, he sprayed the plants, wearing a backpack with the insecticide, "so that also looks completely crazy."

With the drop in temperature, he also covers his plants at night.

"Right now in the cool weather, I'll cover the plants at nights with blankets and you hope nobody sees you," he said.

2016 hit or miss for growers

Hoelke said this has been one of his best years, and that is also true for Chris Lyons of Scarborough. He grows his pumpkins on property in Cameron, Ont.

"After 25 years I am finally getting the results that I have always hoped to achieve growing at my friends', Phil and Jane Hunt," Lyons said. The Hunts are well known in the giant vegetable growing world and are members of the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario (GVGO) executive committee.

"I've been really lucky the last two years, I haven't lost any. The years before, I did. I had about three or four years that were pretty disappointing," Lyons said.

"You put so much into it. The amount of time and money you put into them, you can take it once and awhile but when you do it every year and it's always your biggest one ," he said, trailing off.

His friends, the Hunts, did not fare well this year.

"Pumpkins all split on us. Once they have a hole in it, it's no good for a weigh off," Jane Hunt said in an email. "Maybe better luck next year."

Seeds the key

Manygrowers take their huge produceto nearby fairsto have them weighed and with luckwin a ribbon. But after that?

"What do you do with a 1,500 pound pumpkin? It's not the easiest thing to move around or give to somebody," Hoelke said.

In the past he has given them to people for boat races, and he's also helda fundraiser with a local store: Ballots were put inside the pumpkin, it wasthen hoistedup and droppedto the ground. Awinning entry was plucked from the mush.

How-to

For anyone interested in growing a giant pumpkin, Hoelke recommends joining a group like the GVGO to get tips and advice from those who have experience at growing giant gourds.

"That's your biggest start, you need a good seed," he said.

And then, you get addicted you want to see if small changes get you bigger pumpkins.

"It becomes this sort of game and it's hard to get out of once you start," he added.