Max and his monster Halloween pumpkin!
IT WEIGHS four times as much as the boy who watched it grow.
Little Max Jones, six, spent hours caring for his pumpkin as it grew from a tiny seed into a 14-and-a-half stone giant.
Max would even tenderly tuck it in at night, wrapping blankets around the fruit to keep it warm.
The prize pumpkin is one of three grown by Max and his siblings George, 12, and 9-year-old Lucy – which together weigh 39st.
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"Every year, the kids have a competition to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin before Halloween," said their mum Jane Jones.
"The one Max has grown this year is the biggest we have ever had. It takes three people to lift it, it is huge.
"Max is really pleased with it, especially because he is the youngest of the three. He is definitely the one with the greenest fingers.
"He has been tucking it in at night during the past few weeks, to try and make it grow even more."
The children planted the American Giant pumpkin seeds in the family's greenhouse in June with the help of their dad Bob, a farmer.
After weeks of caring for the growing fruit, the results were revealed with Max's pumpkin the clear winner.
George's fruit tipped the scales at 13 stone, with Lucy's weighing in at 12-and-a-half stone.
Mrs Jones, director of Southwood Farm Shop in Cottingham, said: "At first, they didn't seem to be doing a lot but they really started to grow in August and that's when the kids started to get excited.
"Everyone who came round would get dragged off to see how the pumpkins were doing."
Max said: "I feel really happy that mine is the biggest."
The three huge pumpkins are now on display in the farm shop and may be donated to charity for Halloween.
"People who come in to the shop keep asking if they are real," said Mrs Jones.
"Kids are having their photographs taken with them. Max thinks he is the best pumpkin grower in the world now."
Lucy said: "Mine was really big. My dad couldn't lift it by himself, he had to get one of the other workers to help him. Even then they could only just do it.
"Max's was the biggest, but I am going to beat him next year."
Mrs Jones said the size of the fruit is more surprising because of a poor pumpkin harvest this year, which has led to fewer fruit and increased prices.
"Last year, we had 750 pumpkins from the field, but even though we planted twice as many seeds this year, we still only have about 300.
"It is the worst yield we have ever had, which I think has happened nationally because of the horrible summer.
"The prices are more expensive, because we just don't have the amount that we did last year.
"Last year's we had really nice big pumpkins that were a lot more orange. This year they are still good pumpkins, but they are quite a bit smaller and greener, although they will turn more orange before Halloween.
"We have noticed people have started to buy them early and I think that is because people know it has been a bad year for pumpkins."
The cheapest pumpkin in the shop is selling for 99p, with prices rising to £50 for the largest American Giant pumpkins.
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