A regional town in NSW is making a name for itself as the home of an unusual fruit and vegetable competition.
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00:00 There is a good dozen giant pumpkins and half a dozen giant watermelons here in Kyogle this
00:08 year.
00:09 They've now been weighed and we're about to find out who grew the heaviest pumpkin here
00:16 this year.
00:17 And it takes a good two to four months to grow a pumpkin this size.
00:20 And a lot goes into it, as Ruchenvale grower John Ledbeter explains.
00:25 I get it sort of ready over through the winter period, start doing that and put in what I've
00:33 got to need for the ground and when it's growing I do foliage liquid sprays.
00:37 As the side runners are growing I bury each runner under each leaf to make a second root
00:45 come out so I have two roots on each leaf and more roots in the ground to help grow
00:50 bigger.
00:51 And it has been a tough pumpkin growing season.
00:54 The weather conditions have not been ideal.
00:57 It's been raining since Christmas, some growers haven't seen sunshine at all.
01:01 Some have experienced hot and very humid days.
01:05 Lillian Cox's pumpkin weighed in at 300 kilos on harvest but here at the pumpkin festival
01:11 today it lost a kilo.
01:13 She weighed in at 299 kilos for her pumpkin.
01:18 After Christmas it just poured every day and we had no sun so it's just the worst conditions
01:23 really.
01:24 I don't know if I've actually made it.
01:25 It was going to take a miracle and it happened.
01:31 You feel like a winner just getting it here.
01:35 Anyone that gets a pumpkin here is really a winner because it's so challenging.
01:39 And it's a family affair for the Cox family.
01:42 Lillian's granddaughter Matilda who's just three years old is also now growing pumpkins.
01:47 Her pumpkin weighed in at 62 kilos today but that is far short of the Australasian record
01:54 which was set here three years ago by Dale Olivaerts.
01:59 867 kilograms.
02:01 Again, far short of the world record which was set in California last October at 1,245
02:09 kilos.
02:11 That is heavier than the weight of some small cars.
02:16 But the winner for this year comes from Queensland.
02:19 Tony Frohloch drove three hours this morning to bring his giant pumpkin to Cuyahoga.
02:25 Today it weighed in at 358.5 kilos which is 10 kilos less than what I had it previously
02:32 weighed at.
02:33 Preparation, so it takes about four and a half months.
02:37 Most of the time our plants up in Queensland, some of the ones down here in New South Wales
02:42 actually get them to grow longer than that.
02:44 A bit cooler climate, definitely plays a part.
02:47 So, yeah, about four and a half months it took from the planting of the seed to the
02:53 winner here today.
02:54 Tony will now collect the seeds from his 358.5 kilo giant pumpkin to grow at a later date
03:03 and then he'll give the rest to his cattle.
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