World’s Heaviest Pumpkin Sets Incredible New Record at 2,856 lbs. - Good News Network

The population of New Zealand’s endemic wētāpunga – believed to be the world’s heaviest insect – is officially “increasing” thanks to a groundbreaking breeding programme that has overseen the release of 11,000 insects into the wild. “The future of wētāpunga is looking bright,” said Dr Chris Green, an honorary researcher at the department of conservation, who documented the success of the project for the New Zealand Journal of Zoology. Green co-authored a report released on 2 October that outlines the success of the breeding programme. “Eleven thousand individuals for release is extraordinary and outstanding.”A female wētāpunga can weigh as much as a mouse. Its body can grow up to 10cm long (nearly 4in) and its leg span can be as wide as 20cm. It is the largest of 70 wētā species and was once found across parts of the North Island before predation from introduced species and habitat loss contributed to their decline. By the 1990s, they were considered “endangered” and are now presumed extinct in the wild on New Zealand’s mainland. The insects reside primarily on a smattering of predator-free islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and off the coast of Northland.

In an unexpected twist for the category of heaviest pumpkin – when sometimes years can go by without a new challenger – just a week after the title fell in the UK on 3 October, the record has just been supersized on the other side of the Atlantic. The new world heavyweight pumpkin, weighing 1,431.5 kg (3,156 lb), grown by Ron Wallace of Rhode Island, USA

Plant nursery owner and veteran gourd grower Ian Paton, from Hampshire, UK, is back smashing pumpkins, or at least pumpkin records, once again. A year after he and his twin brother, Stuart, became the first British holders of the heaviest pumpkin title in recorded history, Ian has worked tirelessly to ensure his pumpkin patch continues to flourish, which means he has now raised the bar even higher.

6 October 2026Indy Almroth-WrightSouth of EnglandIan PatonIan Paton, from Lymington, grew the pumpkin over about four monthsA pumpkin grower has set a new world record after producing a giant squash. Ian Paton, from Lymington, Hampshire, entered his exceptionally large specimen into a giant vegetable weigh-off near Reading in Berkshire. It weighed 2,856.8lbs (1,295.8kg), has circumference of over 20ft (6m) and was officially confirmed by Guinness World Records judge, Sebastian Suski. Paton said growing the pumpkin named Bagheera, tending to it for up to six hours and providing about 130 gallons of water daily, had been "bloody hard work". It was the first time the 65-year-old, who has grown giant pumpkins with his twin brother Stuart for over 50 years, had entered the competition on his own. Sebastian SuskiPaton said he spent about spent up to six hours a day tending the pumpkin that needed about 130 gallons of water dailyThe pumpkin is now on show at Sunnyfields farm near Southampton, where it will be displayed for the next few weeks. Paton said the pumpkin would later be used as feed for cows. More on this storyRelated internet links