The largest pumpkin in Kansas this year is on display at the KC Pumpkin Patch on Gardner Road.

The 1,675 pound pumpkin was grown by Jacob Marintzer south of Westmoreland, Kansas.

The Atlantic Giant variety pumpkin is the second largest pumpkin ever grown in Kansas. The largest was in 2020 at 1,990 pounds.

The Atlantic giant seeds are a special breed that can be traced genetically back to the 1980s. The pumpkin at KC Pumpkin Patch came from a 2,261 pound pumpkin.

Marintzer started growing the pumpkin in a 60 foot by 40 foot greenhouse on March 31.

He said on June 1st it was the size of a hold all and had reached full grown status by August 31.

“At peak growing time, it would grow about 40lbs a day,”Marintzer said.

The pumpkin had to be weighed at a verified Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth weigh-off. The GPV is a world wide organization with established standards and regulations.

Marintzer said the pumpkin is not edible and can not be used to make pies, because he uses fertilizer in it daily. “If you did make it into our, it would make 1,675 pies or one pound of pumpkin purée per pie,”he said.

Marintzer documents his pumpkin growing season on his YouTube channel. His three children and YouTube viewers named the pumpkin at the KC Pumpkin Patch, “Chunky Cheeto.”

This year he created a YouTube challenge called Pumpkin Wars with three other growers in the U.S.