By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Dr. Bob Liggett of Pickaway County in Ohio had a gut feeling he just might win the Great Pumpkin Weigh-In contest at this year’s Circleville Pumpkin Show. Even the bulging tires on his trailer was a chief indicator he might be victorious.

Once on the scale, Liggett’s portly squash set a Circleville Pumpkin Show record with a weight of 1,636 pounds. The crowd of nearly 4,000 let out a roar when it was announced that the new weight beat the 2007 record of 1,524.5 pounds.

“It’s my 17th year of doing this and I’ve come up empty just four years,” said Liggett, winner of last year’s show with a fruit weighing 1,375.5 pounds.

Pre-weigh-in estimates pegged Liggett’s fruit at nearly 1,840 pounds, which would have dethroned the world-record 1,725-pound squash recorded on Oct. 3 of this year at a giant pumpkin weigh-off in Canton, Ohio.

The 70-year-old Liggett, an optometrist, was disappointed he didn’t bring the world record home, but he was quite satisfied that he captured his eighth pumpkin weigh-in title at the Circleville Pumpkin Show. He takes no credit for having a green thumb. Or, in this case, an orange one.

“I’ve been fortunate to have great soil, that’s all,” Liggett said, modestly.

“I live just four miles south of town and my soil is some of the best you’ll find anywhere. I have sandy loam soil and it drains very well.”
Liggett planted his seeds May 1. He grew three large pumpkins in enriched soil mixed with alpaca manure, utilizing 900 square feet of space. (The smaller pumpkins weighed 1,217 and 1,103 pounds.) He made use of a snow fence and within that fence was a border made with 18-inch chicken wire. He then covered his pumpkin patch with a tent-like structure of 50 percent silver shade cloth.

“Aphids were among my worse enemies,” he said. “Aphids bring watermelon mosaic virus. A researcher at Ohio State University discovered that silver repels aphids, which is why my shade cloth was silver.”

Liggett and other competitors are a fraternity of sorts when it comes to growing enormous pumpkins. Growers are often online at www.bigpumpkins.com to research and share growing ideas and techniques. Even growers at this year’s weigh-in were busy sharing growing techniques, before and after the weigh-in.

“It’s one of those things where you try to improve what you do by listening to other people,” he said. “We’re all competitors, but there are no enemies among us.”

Pickup trucks, with massive fruit in tow, lined up for several blocks with all vehicles facing the center of this central Ohio city. Show organizers did their pre-weigh-in estimates and had those with the larger pumpkins at the back of the pack: A good omen for Liggett, whose truck sat at the tail end of this long line.

Nearer to the front of the line were Art and Martha Wolfe of Pickaway County. This is the first time these retirees had a pumpkin worth weighing. Theirs tipped the scale at just over 300 pounds.

“I’ve planted seeds before but never had any come up,” Art said. “I spent little time with my pumpkin. I just threw 12 seeds in some good soil and fortunately, had one come up really well. I had vines growing in different directions and the good Lord provided the rain. I used no fertilizer at all.”

According to his wife, Martha, “his grew by benign neglect.”