Tim Harris and his son Alex bask in the glory of their record-setting pumpkin.

The summer of 2017/18 was supposed to be a poor one for growing pumpkins.

Tim Harris obviously didn't get the memo.

Over the past summer the Morrinsville man grew a record-setting 808 kilogram monster pumpkin that dominated the competition at this year's Great Pumpkin Carnival.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Labour MP Jamie Strange, with his not-so-giant pumpkin.

The event, now in its ninth year at the Hamilton Gardens, drew hundreds of curious onlookers on Sunday, all keen to see how big and heavy the vegetables could possibly become.

They were not disappointed, with some absolute whoppers entered by dozens of growers in this year's competition.

Genetics evidently plays a big role in pumpkin cultivation. Harris' son Alex, 11, grew the second most massive specimen, which weighed in at 651kg.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Some pumpkins are beautiful. Others are the products of your worst nightmares.

There was a growing rivalry between father and son, Harris said.

"He's always trying to catch dad."

Balancing nutrients and getting just the right amount of sunshine falling on the fruits of his labour was the key to his success, he said.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Prodigious pumpkins had plenty of pulling power.

"We had a long, warm summer, although February was pretty wet. Those cyclones that blew over didn't help."

The 2018 effort beats Harris' previous best, a 789.5kg behemoth he grew in 2016, and it is well above his 2017 effort of 676.5kg.

The heaviest pumpkin competition is officially recognised by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth - an organisation that has been described as the Olympic organising committee of vegetables.



The Harris family have some more growing to do if they want to top the pumpkin world record. The heaviest recorded weighed in at a prodigious 1190.49 kg, and was grown by Mathias Willemijns of Belgium in October, 2016.



It was not just the biggest and heaviest that were being judged in Hamilton. The best carved pumpkin, the best pumpkin creation and even "the most perfect pumpkin" were all categories with numerous vegetables in competition.



Event organiser Sam Elton-Walters was thrilled with the big crowds of onlookers who had come to check out the event.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Alex Harris was thrilled with the results of his pumpkin-growing efforts.

"They all seem to have come here super early this year. We must have done some good on the marketing side of things."

Although entrants were up across the board, there were slightly less in the main giant pumpkin category.

"It's been a hard season for some people due to the humidity. There are so many other pumpkin events these days, like competitions between schools, that they sometimes use their best pumpkins for those and don't save anything for the big competition, which is this one."

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF National MP David Bennett was mighty proud of his pumpkin effort.

As well as the serious competition, there was a less-than-serious pumpkin growing battle between some of Hamilton's politicians.

The city's mayor Andrew King, Hamilton East MP David Bennet, Hamilton West's Tim Macindoe and Hamilton-based list MP Jamie Strange had all been vying to see who among them could produce the mightiest specimen.

However that battle had been marked by dirty tricks and foul play.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Luis Frost, 6, made a deep sea angler fish out of a pumpkin.

Macindoe's pumpkin had been growing at Frankton School until the end of January, when someone sliced through its stem.

Although it had not been able to grow any more, it appeared likely that vegetable would top the table - until a few nights ago when someone smashed it to pieces.

"It was a pretty tragic turn of events," Macindoe said. "Someone snuck into the school in the dead of night and dealt to it. It had not grown for months, but I believe it would have won."

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Hannah-George, 5, and her brother David Thomas-Shilu, 10, from Hamilton were impressed with some of the artistic pumpkin creations.

While the identity of the pumpkin smasher might forever remain a mystery, Macindoe said he was eyeing his fellow politicians with suspicion, particularly Bennett who won the battle with a 39.5kg effort.

King had similar bad luck - "the bottom of it blew out a little while ago" - while Strange's pumpkin also had a sad fate.

"It just died on me. Maybe it was an act of political sabotage."

A pumpkin that had been planted at a local school - "I won't name the school" - was also doomed, with the school's garden being cleaned out, pumpkin and all, by a well-intentioned caretaker at the critical stage.

Strange still entered a pumpkin in the competition, although it was best described as diminutive.

"Good things come in small packages," he said. "As we will all find out in June, when the prime minister has her baby."