Latest crop of supersized fruit and vegetables recognized at Malvern Autumn Show

Every September, ace veg growers from all around the UK congregate at the Malvern Autumn Show in Worcestershire to put forward their most herculean horticultural efforts of the season at the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship – a hallowed event in the competitive gardening calendar.

It’s a nerve-wracking time for the entrants. Harvesting and transporting their long-nurtured precious produce – particularly extra-large examples like squashes and pumpkins, which can require multiple people and even cranes and winches to lift them – can be a logistical nightmare. Worse yet, during the journey, which in some cases can cover hundreds of miles, there is great jeopardy of damage that could result in a heart-rending instant disqualification.

And all of that stress comes before the official judge has even examined the specimens, assessing their condition and how they size up with a tape measure or on carefully calibrated weighing scales, in order to determine whether they have set a new show, UK, European or – as everyone most hopes for – world record.

Given that fruit and vegetables of unprecedented proportions are often ratified at this annual extravaganza across dozens of different categories, it’s no surprise that Guinness World Records has long had a close affiliation with the contest. Representing GWR at the 2025 event on 26–28 September was Senior Managing Editor Adam Millward to see first hand if any titles would tumble.

The trip wasn’t in vain. After careful scrutiny by the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship’s head judge – Sebastian Suski – this year saw the recognition of seven new records over the course of the weekend.

• Longest radish: 7.848 m (25 ft 8.9 in), by Joe Atherton (UK) – who has come to be known as the “King of the Longs” owing to his extensive portfolio of “longest vegetable” titles

• Longest aubergine/eggplant: 49 cm (1 ft 7.3 in), by Peter Glazebrook (UK); he also claimed the title for the tallest runner bean plant: 8.006 m (26 ft 3.2 in)

• Longest marrow: 1.454 m (4 ft 9.2 in), by Mark Baggs (UK) – after narrowly missing out on the title of heaviest marrow

• Longest sweet pepper: 26.7 cm (10.5 in), by Kevin, Gareth and Jamie Fortey (all UK)

• Heaviest celeriac: 8.01 kg (17 lb 10.5 oz), by Chris Marriott (UK), who surpassed his own record of 6.71 kg (14 lb 12.7 oz) set just a couple of weeks earlier at the North East Giant Veg Show in County Durham

• Tallest luffa plant: 11.672 m (38 ft 3.5 in), by Graham Barratt (UK)

All of the record-breaking champions from this year’s event are veterans of the competitive growing community, having wracked up dozens of titles between them across more than three decades.

Glazebrook, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, took two titles in 2025, including the new longest aubergine/eggplant, measuring in at the same length as a newborn baby. The softly spoken gent, now with close to 30 record titles in his collection, has become a globally recognized figure both in the horticultural community and beyond thanks to some viral memes of him lovingly holding aloft a then-record onion. He is often asked for selfies with visitors to the show.

His latest brace of records join some unbroken for many years such as the heaviest cauliflower – 27.48 kg (60 lb 9.3 oz), set in 2014 – and the heaviest potato, which has remained at 4.98 kg (10 lb 15 oz) since he claimed it in 2011 (despite a challenge from a contender dubbed “Doug the Spud” in 2021 which, after some laboratory investigation, turned out not to be a potato).

For Mark Baggs, from Wareham, Dorset, who has been growing marrows competitively for two decades, it has been a bittersweet season. Although he did claim a newly minted title for the longest marrow, with a bathtub-sized monster spanning 1.454 m (4 ft 9.2 in), the prize of heaviest marrow that he was gunning for with his 111-kg (245-lb) entry eluded him, albeit by just over 5 kg (11 lb).

What makes it even more painful is that he did have another contender that he was convinced would have claimed the weighty crown, but shortly before the show, a split emerged in the skin which meant it was ineligible for entry. This is the rollercoaster ride that all competitive produce growers face every year, with so many factors that lie out of their control.

Then again, as an indicator of just how close-knit the giant veg community is, even among rivals, the current record holder – a 116.4-kg (256-lb 9.8-oz) specimen presented by Vincent Sjodin (UK) in 2021 – was grown from seeds that originated from Baggs. The farmer previously held the title for heaviest marrow back in 2005 with a 62-kg (136-lb 9-oz) fruit – showing just how far the marrow record has skyrocketed in a relatively short period of time.

Asked for his advice to anyone wanting to have a go at growing their own record marrow, or indeed any other vegetables, Baggs told GWR: “Just keep at it. If you’ve got a dream to grow something like this, don’t give up on it. My dream is to get the world record for the heaviest marrow back… and I won’t stop till I get that.”

The tallest luffa plant claimed by Graham Barratt – who as a native Gloucestrian didn't have far to travel to Malvern – capped off a stellar season during which he cultivated multiple record veggies.

This included two more luffa titles for fruits produced on his vines: the heaviest luffa (2.82 kg; 6 lb 3.5 oz) and the longest luffa (1.396 m; 4 ft 7 in).

“I’ve been growing more exotic things this year,” Barratt explained in response to why he thinks he’s had so much success in 2025. “So the way the climate's been – we had a long, mild spring and then a long warm summer… really helped the exotic [plants], so I’ve done really well.”

Even away from the world records there was plenty to celebrate in the giant veg hall. A new European record was set in the “heaviest tomato” class for a 4.39-kg (9-lb 10.8-oz) titan grown by serial horticultural record breaker Douglas Smith (UK). Clearly a man with a knack for nurturing tomato plants, he currently holds the GWR titles for most tomatoes on a single truss (branch) – at 1,269 – and most tomatoes on a single plant (5,891).

Among the most popular exhibits on display were the giant pumpkins. The Paton brothers from Lymington in Hampshire easily claimed the top prize in Malvern’s “heaviest pumpkin” class with an armchair-sized 1,117-kg (2,462-lb 9-oz) beast – more than 85% heftier than their closest competitor.

It fell short of their 2022 best effort, however, which tipped the scales at 1,205 kg (2,656 lb 9.1 oz) and retains the UK title.

The world record heaviest pumpkin remains the one presented by Travis Gienger (USA) at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off held in Half Moon Bay, California, USA, on 9 October 2023, with a verified weight of 1,246.9 kg (2,749 lb). Measuring 642.6 cm (21 ft 1 in) from stem to blossom, it is also the largest pumpkin by circumference on record.

For more mind-boggling examples of prodigious produce, check out the latest GWR book and our news page dedicated to food and drink records.