Kent’s giant melon was an incredible 42.5 pounds heavier than the previous world record — set by Gabriele Bartoli in Italy last year. “I’m extremely excited about it,” Kent said Saturday. “It’s a relief. I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
Kent had heard another large watermelon was out there this year, and there was. A 316-pounder, which would have been a new world record as well. But Kent’s was bigger. Much bigger. “They’re going to send it up to the botanical gardens in New York City,” he said. “In light of this being so big, they’re going to send it up (there).”
It’s not the first time Kent’s held the world record for largest watermelon. In 2010, his 291-pounder shattered the previous world record of 268 pounds.
“You can eat them,” Kent said. “(But) they’re not as sweet as a store-bought. The flesh inside is a little more coarse and it’s not as sweet.” What will probably happen is Kent will recoup some of money he’s invested in producing a champion by packaging and selling the seeds to other giant growers. “There should be over 1,500 seeds in here,” he said.
According to Kent, seeds from a record-setting champion could go for as much as $40 for a pack of 3-4 seeds. “We all share seeds and trade them back and forth,” he said. “(And) they have auctions in the winter time on the website bigpumkins.com to raise funds for the clubs and stuff.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie (among growers), with the Internet and stuff … but there’s also a competitiveness about it.”
