Horticultural teacher Travis Gienger brings gourd – dubbed Michael Jordan – across country for California contest

A Minnesota horticultural teacher set a new world record for growing the heaviest pumpkin – a gargantuan jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,749lb.

Travis Gienger set the record at the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. The plump pumpkin beat the previous record, set in 2021 by Stefano Cutrupi of Italy, by 47lb.