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A Wisconsin man grew the heaviest pumpkin in the country, but he will not be placed into any world record books due to unfortunate circumstances.
According to TMJ 4, Mike Schmit would have set a world record with his 2,520-pound pumpkin, but the pumpkin cracked, making him ineligible to enter into competitions.
"It happens. There's no crying in pumpkin growing," Schmit said.
The crack kept him from entering in competitions where he would have earned a large chunk of change, like the 2021 Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California. The California weigh-off competition pays $9 per pound, so that crack kept Schmit from winning about $22,680.
The crack in the giant pumpkin isn't discouraging Schmit. He told TMJ 4 that cracks like this happen. "I know I can do it again, so we just gotta look forward to the future," he added.
Schmit began growing the gargantuan gourd in 2016. He did win three competitions while growing the pumpkin, but this was the first time he had produced one that large.
Caring for pumpkins is not easy work. Schmit says it takes about 10 hours a day per pumpkin. He grew three at one time, so he spent about 30 hours a week watering and caring for his pumpkins. Unfortunately, all three of them ended up cracking.
Schmit says he hopes to grow a pumpkin similar to the record-breaking one again.