WHAT A WHOPPER: Peter Glazebook with the former world record heaviest aubergine (Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography/Malvern Autumn Show/PA)
Size definitely matters when it comes to growing record-breaking veg. Each autumn, growers from across the country gather at the UK Giant Vegetable Championship to present their biggest and best produce to judges bearing scales and tape measures.
Many competitors will have spent hours every day tending their veg – and no little amount of money – in a bid to break Guinness World Records. Their efforts result in enormous onions, massive marrows, ridiculously long green beans and pumpkins so big and heavy they need to be transported in a lorry.
So, how do you grow giant vegetables? Two prize-winning growers have shared their top tips ahead of this year’s contest at Malvern Autumn Show, Worcestershire, which runs from Friday, September 26 to 28.
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It’s not something you can do half-heartedly. Veteran record-breaking grower Peter Glazebrook waters his vegetables manually and hasn’t been on holiday for years. He says: “We don’t like to be away for more than a day from the garden. You have to be dedicated to win.”
Giant veg also takes up a lot of room. “The amount of space you need depends on which veg you want to grow,” says fellow competitor Joe Atherton. Last year, he broke the world record for the longest turnip at 4.8m (15ft 10in) and the longest radish at 7.4m (24ft 3in) – longer than a minibus.
He adds: “I’m stood in front of one of my raised beds which is about 7ft by 5ft and I’ve got six giant carrots in it. Obviously if you’re going to try to grow marrows, pumpkins and giant cabbage you’ll need more space.
“I grow giant radishes in 45-gallon barrel drums cut in half.” Joe, who has 19 entries in this year’s show, confesses most of his garden is devoted to growing supersized veg.
Peter’s advice
The retired building surveyor, 81, holds six current world records including heaviest cauliflower (27.4kg; 60lb 9oz), longest runner bean (89.7cm; 2ft 11in) and longest leek (1.5m; 5ft 2in). He’s entering 20 categories at this year’s show and is known for his expertise in onions.
Secrets of success: “Veg like onions take the whole year to grow, so I’ll be planting onion seeds in October. In recent years, I’ve been growing a lot of my vegetables in a growing medium called coir (coconut husk)… It’s basically a good substitute for peat.”
Challenges: “You need special equipment for leeks and onions because you are starting them early in October and you’ve got to grow them over the winter. You need heated greenhouses with artificial lighting. Giant veg are expensive to grow.
“Climate change is also a problem – every year seems to get hotter and the challenge is trying to keep the temperature down. Onions don’t like 30C heat. The tops start to die back. Ideally, they don’t want more than about 24C. I’ve lost a lot of onions this year. The hot weather also brings pests like spider mite, which can hit all the veg that are enclosed.”
Top tips: Start with summer veg like tomatoes and cucumbers, things you can grow without a lot of expensive facilities like greenhouse heating, and try to obtain the right seeds, says Peter. “You can’t buy winning seeds in a shop. Get it from other growers or specialist nurseries.”
Potatoes are good for starters if you buy tubers (seed potatoes) in spring from a specialist nursery. He recommends the variety Kondor. “You can grow them in a tunnel or frame, but ideally they want to be outside in the garden.”
If you are considering growing larger veg to enter in competitions, bear transportation in mind, says Peter. “If you are thinking of growing a giant pumpkin, for instance, make sure you can actually lift it out of the garden and transport it to the show.”
SIZE MATTERS: Joe Atherton with his world record-breaking longest radish (Image: Mikal Ludlow Photography/Malvern Autumn Show/PA)Joe’s advice
The 70-year-old retired miner, known as ‘King of the Longs’, holds six world records, including the longest carrot at 6.2m (20ft 5in), the longest parsnip at 6.5m (21ft 5in) and the longest beetroot at 8.5m (28ft 1in).
Secrets of success: “My wife. She’s got to be into it or it’s a waste of time. It’s an obsession. You’ve got to be working on it 24/7 and if you’re not doing it, you’re thinking about it.”
Challenges: “The weather. This year has been the hardest year we’ve ever had. We’ve had four heatwaves. You have a lot more watering, try to shade your polytunnels and ventilate as much as you can.”
Top tips: “The main thing is you have to get the right seed. At Malvern there are several growers there who can get you some seeds.”
So, can you eat the giant veg afterwards? “Some of them you can, such as onions, carrots and ripe tomatoes,” says Joe. “You wouldn’t want to eat a cabbage or swede because they will probably be old by the time you’re shelling them,” adds Peter.
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