What's better than the usual candy, costumes and regular-sized pumpkins on Halloween?
How about the largest pumpkins ever grown in San Luis Obispo County?
Pumpkin guru Paul Rys, also known as Pumpkin Paul, hosted a gathering on Sawleaf Court in San Luis Obispo that featured five massive pumpkins — all weighing over 1,000 lbs.
The heaviest weighs 1,537 lbs., and another is 1,476 lbs. The latter was entered into the world championship pumpkin weigh-off in Half Moon Bay earlier this month.
Rys, a 26-year veteran of pumpkin growing, said they hold the distinction of heaviest grown in the county.
“It’s not just regular pumpkins," Rys said, who provided advice and consultation to the two men who grew the pumpkins. "It’s special genetics, and the people have actually been the bees, the growers all over the world have taken pollen from big pumpkins and put them into other big pumpkins and it’s been selective breeding for many years."
Dave and Jonny Righetti grew the record pumpkins, Rys said.
Hundreds of visitors and trick-or-treaters were in the area Thursday, posing for photos with the massive fruit.
"It’s an ever-moving target," Rys said of the pumpkin growers' target size for the fruit. "It never stops."
Rys added that growers are pushing the boundaries of what was previously thought to be possible, with some pumpkins getting above 2,500 lbs. and the thickness reaching 12 to 15 inches.
Corrections: An earlier version of this article misspelled Jonny Righetti's name. The article has been updated with the correct spelling.
