It's Happening: A Quest to Grow the Great White Pumpkin
By Julie Perine on September 16, 2024 from It’s Happening
I enjoyed my conversation with Jason Poth while visiting his store, Edge of Town Farm Market. We talked about the fall season and the 2024 corn mazes – which are by now open for visitors. Jason also told me about a nice young man he has employed as a farm hand for the past couple of years and a cool quest he has embarked upon.
Jayce Stutler, a sophomore at Bridgeport High School, is growing a massive pumpkin which presently weighs out at about 650 pounds. You might wonder how they weighed it while attached to the vine. I did.
“Jason knew this trick where you measure it from front to back, side to side, and the circumference and you can estimate the weight,” Jayce said.
Jayce said he and his family members have enjoyed growing the great pumpkin from the seed that Jason gifted him for Christmas 2023.
“It’s a seed cross bread with all kinds of big pumpkins,” he said. “We planted it in May, and it was only fingertip width. With the drought this year, we’ve had to get water every day and keep it fertilized."
The seed that was planted about 100 yards from his house has produced a vine that stretches 30 to 40 feet long.
Jayce’s grandparents help gather water and his dad helped him build a fence around the plant for protection.
“We also cover it with a bed sheet because if it gets too much sunlight, it will crack, and bugs will get into it,” Jayce said.
Affectionately named “Bud,” the pumpkin has continued to grow over the past six months. It’s fun, Jayce said, to take his four-wheeler to water it every evening and see the progress.
“For it to get that big, I have to pick off all the blooms, so the nutrients go to that one pumpkin,” Jayce said. “If I didn’t, it would probably grow about 20 regular size pumpkins.”
The blooms pop up quickly, dozens per day, he said.
Despite all the good care, Jayce has run into a snag.
“The vine split down the middle and we’re not sure what caused that,” he said. “The pumpkin isn’t going to get as big as we’d hoped for.”
To be considered for a state record, Jayce said the pumpkin would have to weigh over 1,000 pounds.
Set in 2021, the state record is 2,194 pounds.
Next year, he’s going to try again, planting the seed earlier indoors, then transporting it outside with a goal of taking the pumpkin to the West Virginia State Fair.
As with everything, you learn by doing, Jayce said.
This year, he will let the pumpkin grow until the first frost, after which they will pull it from the vine and display it at Edge of Town Farm Market. The seeds wlil be for sale.
Jayce is the son of Amanda and Johnny Stutler.
Tune in next year for his continued quest to grow the great pumpkin.
Edge of Town Farm Market is located on Anmoore Road (Route 58) between Bridgeport and Anmoore. Read about it HERE.
