A British farmer grew the heaviest pumpkin in the world, weighing over 2.8 thousand pounds.

Sixty-five-year-old Ian Paton from the British town of Lymington (Hampshire) broke his own record by growing a giant vegetable with a circumference of over 20 feet. The specimen named "Bagheera" (after the panther from The Jungle Book) was officially weighed on October 3 at the Wargrave Nursery Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Berkshire under the supervision of a Guinness World Records adjudicator.

Certified giant vegetable judge Gerald Short noted that throughout the 100-million-year history of fruiting plants on Earth, this specimen is the heaviest and most massive. Last year, Ian Paton, along with his twin brother Stuart, already grew a record-breaking pumpkin weighing 2,819 pounds and 4 ounces. However, this season Paton participated in the competition alone for the first time, despite having grown them together with his brother for over 50 years.

Caring for the record-breaking plant required great effort: the grower spent six hours a day and poured 130 gallons of water (equivalent to the volume of three bathtubs). The pumpkin is now on display at Sunnyfields Farm in Southampton, where it will remain until the end of the month, after which it will be fed to livestock animals. The record holder's plans are to break the 3,000-pound mark.