HUNTSBURG, Ohio — Fall is just around the corner and that means it's nearly time for pumpkin everything.

What You Need To Know

  • Giant pumpkins take several months to grow

  • They require an average of 100 gallons of water a day

  • Jerry Rose has been growing giant pumkins for 45 years

That includes actual gourds and pumpkins, which come in all shapes and sizes.

“I’m 55. I’ve been doing it since I was 10,” giant pumpkin farmer Jerry Rose said.

He is passionate about growing giant pumpkins. He’s been growing them for the last 45 years.

“I average six a year, so you can figure that out. About 300,” said Rose. 

The ones in his greenhouse are already more than 1000 pounds, and they continue to grow.

“It should be around be about 1,300 pounds, and it’s growing about 35 pounds per day,” Rose said of one pumpkins. 

Growing these giant gourds takes a lot of time, attention and know-how.

“I’ve been working on this soil for over 20 years, lots of compost, lots of water," Rose said. "I just finished watering them before you got here. Each plant gets roughly 100 to 120 gallons of water a day. There’s six of them in here. You can figure that out — 600 to 700 gallons a day. Little bit of fertilizer, not a lot."

He has a special method.

“I’m one of the only people growing them in a high tunnel greenhouse," he said. "This is my third year of doing that. Doing it for protection from the elements. I can control how much water I’m putting on them. If we get bad storms, the most detrimental things to these are high winds. And you can see the leaves are like umbrellas. If we’re going to get a bad storm I can close this thing up tight and keep the wind out."

When he’s finished growing them, Rose said he takes them to different fairs and sells them to fall festivals.

“The first show I will probably go to will be Canfield Fair, which is always Labor Day Weekend. We bring them in the Tuesday before the Canfield Fair to get them weighed in. Then our next bigger shows. We have one at Parks Garden, just outside of Canfield. We have shows in Columbus, down by Dayton, near Pittsburgh. I can even go up into New York and Michigan if need be."

Rose said when his kids were younger, he would keep one of the pumpkins and carve it into a giant jack-o-lantern.