Rhode Island Grower's 3,156-Pound Pumpkin Is First Fruit Over 3,000 Pounds

A pumpkin grown in Rhode Island weighed 3,156 pounds (1,431.5 kilograms) at a contest in Warren on Oct. 10, 2026. That makes it the heaviest pumpkin on record. Guinness World Records lists it as the first pumpkin, and the first fruit of any kind, to weigh more than 3,000 pounds.²

The pumpkin belongs to Ron Wallace, a 60-year-old grower from Coventry, Rhode Island.⁴ Guinness described its size in terms a farmer would appreciate: it weighed more than twice as much as a Holstein cow.³

A world record that lasted one week

The timing was unusual. On Oct. 3, British grower Ian Paton set the world record at a competition in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. His pumpkin weighed 2,856 pounds and 12.8 ounces.³⁵

A week later, Wallace’s pumpkin beat that mark by nearly 300 pounds, according to John Russo, the official scale weigher.⁶ Guinness said a record changing hands that quickly is almost unheard of. The only comparable case it cited was in 1999, when two records were set on the same day.³

The weigh-in took place at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Frerichs Farm in Warren.² Before the pumpkin went on the scale, officials from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth inspected it and confirmed it met competition standards.⁴

A greenhouse and a good summer

Wallace pointed to a change in how he grew this year. It was his first season growing in a greenhouse, and he also credited a more scientific approach.³⁴

“This was my first year growing in a greenhouse and the weather was near perfect for most of the season,” Wallace told Guinness World Records.³

The Weather Channel notes that the race for the record played out against record heat, drought and big temperature swings on both sides of the Atlantic.⁷

Guinness lists the record pumpkin’s seed as 2731 Stelts 2024.²

Wallace’s third world record

This is Wallace’s third world record in about 35 years of growing giant pumpkins.⁴ He set his first in 2006 with a 1,502-pound pumpkin. In 2012 he grew one weighing 2,009 pounds, the first pumpkin to pass a ton.²⁴

“It’s been a long season and I was beyond happy when I saw the weight!” Wallace told Guinness World Records.⁴

He may take a break next. Wallace said he is considering taking next year off to finish projects around his farm, though he has not made a final decision.⁴