UK man reclaims world's heaviest pumpkin record with 1,295 kg giant named Bagheera

British grower Ian Paton reclaimed the world record with Bagheera, a 1,295.8 kg pumpkin confirmed in Berkshire. The feat improved on his family's previous mark and underlined his push to break the 3,000-pound barrier.UK man reclaims world’s heaviest pumpkin record with 1,295 kg giant named Bagheera (Photo: Guinness World Record)A British gardener has grown a pumpkin weighing more than a white rhinoceros, reclaiming the world record for the heaviest pumpkin just a year after he and his twin brother first brought the title to the UK.According to Guinness World Records (GWR), Ian Paton’s giant pumpkin, named Bagheera, weighed an incredible 1,295.8 kg. Officials from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth confirmed the record on October 3 at a weigh-off in Wargrave, Berkshire, UK.The name Bagheera came from Paton’s son, who suggested naming the giant fruit after the black panther in Rudyard Kipling’s classic children’s novel The Jungle Book. A GPC-certified judge described the pumpkin as an extraordinary specimen, noting that it was the heaviest of its kind in the history of fruiting plants.The achievement surpassed the previous record set by Ian and his twin brother, Stuart Paton, in October 2025. Their earlier pumpkin, affectionately named Muggle, weighed 1,278.8 kg, taking the title from American giant-pumpkin grower Travis Gienger, who had held the record after his 2023 entry. The brothers had spent more than five decades growing giant pumpkins together. Although they had won prizes in the UK and across Europe, the world title had eluded them until their 2025 success. Stuart subsequently decided to retire from competitive giant-pumpkin growing, but Ian was keen to push the limits further.Growing Bagheera without his brother proved demanding. Ian told Guinness World Records that he spent as much as six hours a day tending to the pumpkin patch for two months. He joked that the extra work meant he did not see much of his wife, though he had managed to get away with it. The unusually hot British summer added another challenge, with temperatures inside Ian’s greenhouse reaching 40°C. However, his long-standing practice of growing pumpkins under cover helped him manage the heat. He used shading to protect the plants from intense sunlight, while the pumpkin patch received as much as 590 litres of water a day during the hottest periods.Ian’s advice to aspiring giant-pumpkin growers is to consider using a greenhouse, which gives plants an early start and a longer growing season to reach their full potential. He explained that a pumpkin could grow from the size of a golf ball to its enormous final weight in around 120 days, gaining as much as 32 kg in a day.Interestingly, Bagheera was not the only giant pumpkin Ian produced this year. At the Malvern Autumn Show in September, he won the pumpkin class with another specimen, Baloo, which weighed 1,258 kg (2,773 lb).While it did not break the world record, Guinness World Records reported that it ranked as the second-heaviest pumpkin recorded at the time.The additional growing time Bagheera had on the vine before the October weigh-off helped it edge past the previous record. Meanwhile, Muggle continues to hold a separate title: the largest pumpkin by circumference, measuring 649.8 cm (21 ft 3.8 in). Bagheera, despite its greater weight, had a circumference of 596.9 cm (19 ft 6.9 in).Ian has no plans to stop growing giant pumpkins. He told Guinness World Records that his next ambition is to produce a pumpkin weighing 1,360 kgs. With more than 2,600 seeds harvested from Bagheera, he has plenty of opportunities to try again.- Ends