When a pumpkin is almost the size of a small car, it's either magic or supreme cultivation skill at play. More about giant vegetables can be found here.
Udo Karkos is a passionate hobby gardener. But he is not satisfied with a normal harvest. Mr. Karkos grows giant vegetables and has been doing so for 12 years. "In my garden I have pumpkins, carrots, tomatoes, beans, cabbage and kohlrabi, beetroot and parsnips - but everything is just one size larger than usual." The man from Bonn discovered his love for giant vegetables at a weighing event for large pumpkins and has been growing them ever since in his garden, for example, tomatoes that weigh more than 2500 grams.
When do vegetables become giant vegetables?
The question that many are now asking is when are vegetables actually considered to be giant vegetables? "There is generally no fixed rule, but it is clear that the giant vegetables must be significantly larger than the usual retail size, even if this is often not so easy to achieve in your own garden," says Karkos. Because the cultivation of giant vegetables is not magic, but requires some knowledge from the grower.
Even when choosing the variety, you can influence whether the vegetable actually has the potential to grow excessively. “It is mainly genetic that determines how large a plant becomes, even within a plant species. Depending on the variety, the differences can be very large. For example, one type of pumpkin can grow much larger than another,” explains Andreas Verhaag, horticultural engineer at Floragard. When buying, you should therefore ask the special seed manufacturer about varieties that are suitable for growing giant vegetables. Udo Karkos recommends the Super Schmelz variety for kohlrabi, Flakkee for carrots, Rote Kugel or Mammut for beetroot, Picador for parsnips and Big Zac, Domingo or Delicious for tomatoes.
Giant Vegetables: What Are Important Growth Factors?
When sowing, the future giant grower must also be up early, because giant vegetables are sown earlier than would normally be the case. "Once in a whilesowing takes place in winter and can then often only succeed with LED artificial light," says Udo Karkos. Of course, it is then harvested as late as possible to give the fruit as much time as possible to grow.
Even the soil, which after all contains many of the nutrients that make pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes and co. grow huge, is essential for success. "Right from the start I rely on high-quality substrates from controlled production for sowing, repotting and soil improvement outdoors," explains the passionate grower of giant vegetables from Bonn.
And Andreas Verhaag also confirms that all growth factors must be optimally influenced so that the vegetables have enough energy for growth: starting with constant watering (but not too much, so that no root rot occurs) and ending with high-quality, nutrient-rich soil and fertilizers. “Another trick is to reduce the number of fruits on a plant. So she puts more energy into her remaining fruits and they get bigger,” reveals Verhaag.
However, when fertilizing, the motto "a lot helps a lot" should never be followed. Udo Karkos also warns against over-fertilization of plants: "The even supply of my vegetables with slow-release fertilizer promises the best results."
Giant Vegetable Records
This year, the 52-year-old has grown real giants with his tomatoes from his own allotment garden: "So far I have been able to harvest 14 tomatoes with an average weight of 1813 grams, a total of over 25 kilograms from 8 plants. Among them is a specimen weighing an impressive 2822 grams, with which I was able to improve my previous German record by around 300 grams.” Now he is still hoping for his heaviest pumpkin to date. But not only in German gardens can vegetables take on huge dimensions. The largest vegetable in the world grows in Palmer in the US state of Alaska in particular, where a head of cabbage can easily weigh up to 70 kg. The reason for the giant plants from the far north are the long days. Since the sun shines for up to 19 hours a day during the short summer, the plants can put this concentrated energy into their growth.
Giant vegetables in theown garden
"The taste of these giant vegetables is often not really desirable for the hobby gardener," says Andreas Verhaag from Floragard, "you may already know that from large, woody-tasting zucchini". But for hobby gardeners who want to try their hand at giant vegetables, Udo Karkos has one last piece of advice: "For me, growing giant vegetables is a triad: lots of space, lots of time, lots of care - that's the foundation of success." The right one Variety selection, early sowing and late harvesting, high-quality soil and slow-release fertilizers create the right conditions to become a giant vegetable grower.
Would you like to know more about record-breaking plants? Continue reading our article on the 5 fastest growing plants here.