WEST VIRGINIA (Hinton News) – When you think of sports, perhaps a football, basketball or baseball comes to mind. Now, think bigger. In fact, think 2,244 pounds bigger and you will begin to understand the sport of growing award-winning giant pumpkins. Just ask Albert Rodebaugh and his son Chris, both of whom recently took home top prizes for their giant pumpkins at the North Carolina State Fair.
Chris Rodebaugh, who practices dentistry in Fairlea, enjoys growing giant pumpkins and even introduced his dad to the sport several years ago. “My son got me into it,” Albert Rodebaugh said with a laugh. Chris Rodebaugh began growing in 2018 and became interested after seeing a giant fruit grown at our very own West Virginia State Fair.
This year, the father and son traveled together to the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh for a special competition sanctioned by the GPC (Great Pumpkin Commonwealth). Chris Rodebaugh, who set the previous record in 2024, returned to compete this year with a giant pumpkin weighing in at 1,573.1 pounds. His dad, Albert, who resides in Craigsville, set the new record with a whopping 2,244.5-pound giant. When asked what it was like having his dad break his record from last year, Chris Rodebaugh replied with a smile, “It was great.”
Although both are competitive growers, this father and son duo have a great respect for one another. “If I have a question about pumpkins, I call my son,” Albert said. “Chris got third place this year, but in my opinion, he is the best active grower in the state of West Virginia.” When asked what it was like to break his son’s record from the previous year, Albert replied with a chuckle. “It was very nice. I got the silver bullet seed this year, that’s what I like to call it because it did a phenomenal job for me,” he added. The giant pumpkin seed came all the way from Michigan-grower Don Barron and is known as the ‘2440 Barron’ or, as Albert refers to it, the silver bullet seed.
As for what happens to the seeds inside these giant phenomena, the answer may surprise you. “When you win at the North Carolina State Fair, they keep the pumpkin for 10 days,” Albert Rodebaugh revealed. “I don’t go back to harvest the seeds or to get the pumpkin. The GPC goes in and harvests the seeds and will ship them to us. I sell, trade and even give my seeds away,” he added. “There’s all kinds of seed auctions. They can go anywhere from $5 up to $700 or $800 per seed if it’s proven to have come from a very good pumpkin and produced well for years,” Albert Rodebaugh said. Much like his dad, Chris Rodebaugh finds good use for the seeds. “I save them and use them, send to other growers and send to clubs to distribute to other growers,” he said.
Both father and son raise 3 to 5 plants each year in hopes of raising the next record-breaker and plan to compete again next year. “I start the seeds in mid-April and the plants go outside in early May,” Chris Rodebaugh said. “The most important thing is making sure your soil is properly amended, which is easy to do. You take a soil sample and send it to the WVU Agriculture Extension, and they will do an analysis to tell you what the soil is abundant in and what it’s lacking.” When asked how much space a grower should allow for these giant gourds, Chris Rodebaugh responded, “Not much. Each plant takes up 700 to 800 sq. ft. of garden space.”
This rewarding, and often profitable, venture is quickly becoming a family tradition. With it comes patience, work and dedication. “I want to make sure and mention the patience of my wife, Terri,” Albert Rodebaugh said. “She lets me do this, and she becomes a pumpkin widow for about 4 months,” he laughed. “It’s a lot of work and takes up a lot of time, but she puts up with it.”
For more information on the GPC (Great Pumpkin Commonwealth), visit Facebook.com/GreatPumpkinCommonwealth.
