Happy Halloween! Do giant pumpkins have a size limit?

It all began with Nova Scotia grower Howard Dill, the most famous person in the world (at least when it comes to mammoth pumpkins). All of today's record-shattering fruits come from a single gourd from 1979 named the Atlantic Giant, a member of the subspecies Cucurbita maxima. C. maxima was first cultivated in the early 19th century, by growers who crossed a Japanese kabocha squash with a Hubbard squash.

In addition to the right seeds, there are a few other factors that go into colossal pumpkins. According to the National Gardening Association, the elephantine pumpkins prefer a soil pH of 6.5 to 7, with lots of organic matter. Giant pumpkins take 130 days to mature, and at their fastest rate they can gain up to 50 pounds a day, a rate comparable to that of the largest trees.