Thanks to his giant pumpkin weighing 1,152 kilograms, Mario Vangeel is the new European pumpkin weighing champion. Mario's specimen turned out to be more than 150 kilograms heavier than those of his German, Swiss, French and Austrian rivals during the competition in Ludwigsburg, Germany. ‘It came as a surprise because the pumpkin had already lost a lot of moisture,’ Mario told VRT.
Earlier, on 5 October, Mario won the Belgian pumpkin growing championship with a 1,160-kilogram giant pumpkin. Thanks to the same pumpkin, he is now also the European champion. ‘The pumpkin is now 8 kilograms lighter,’ Mario stresses. ‘At the Belgian championships, the pumpkin was removed from the plant and as a result it no longer gets any nutrition or water and is drying out.’
Mario took his giant pumpkin to Ludwigsburg in Germany for the European Championships. A German pumpkin weighing 997 kilograms ended in second place. ‘I was pleasantly surprised that I had brought along the heaviest one after all,’ he says. Mario’s specimen has ranked him 5th in the world top this year. One day, he hopes to win the World Cup and bring it home to Flanders.
‘I would very much like to thank my wife,’ says Mario. ‘I put a lot of time into growing, up to several hours a day. My wife doesn't see much of me at certain times of the year’. Mario is, meanwhile, already working on next year's champion pumpkins. ‘My secret? Water is important, I won't reveal the rest!’
The winning pumpkin will be on display at the Kasterlee pumpkin market next weekend. It will be cut open in early November to harvest the seeds. ‘There could be between 30 and 300 of them. A seed can fetch up to 50 euros.’ Mario shares his seeds with members of the Kasterlee's pumpkin club and other pumpkin societies worldwide.