Brad Schmidt | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Brad Schmidt | The Oregonian

Oregon’s most potent pumpkin grower has a dirty little secret.

“I don’t eat pumpkin pie, actually,” said Steve Daletas. “Don’t like it. Never have.”

No, what Daletas likes – and is better at than almost anyone in America – is growing pumpkins. Big, huge, gigantic pumpkins. Pumpkins that weigh more than a ton.

Pumpkins that break records.

On Saturday, Daletas broke Oregon’s all-time record, harvesting a pale pumpkin weighing in at 2,157.5 pounds. The old record-holder? Daletas, of course.

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Brad Schmidt | The Oregonian/OregonLive

At 57 years old, Daletas earns his living as a commercial pilot for Horizon Air. Pumpkin-growing is his year-round hobby, something he started three decades ago to satisfy a green thumb and competitive streak.

“Why not grow something you can grow really big?” he said.

Daletas is so good at growing pumpkins that he set the world record back in 2003. He hopes to someday earn his crown back. But the current record, from a grower in Belgium, is “a real outlier.”

It’s an ungourdly 2,624.6 lbs.

“I think for most of us, that’s our goal,” Daletas said. “Attainable or not, why set your sights low?”

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Brad Schmidt | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The pumpkin Daletas grew this year was so heavy, it broke a piece of the forklift moving it. Thankfully, it landed on the scale Saturday without cracking.

“We were feet away from losing the pumpkin,” he said.

Daletas won $5,000 in Saturday’s contest. He doesn’t do it for the money. He can’t envision slowing down anytime soon, especially because the endeavor brings his family together.

“There’s something peaceful, relaxing about going out and working in dirt,” he said.

The long process that led to Saturday’s big prize began on April 15, when Daletas planted his crop. On his spread in Pleasant Hill, southeast of Eugene, he sets aside half an acre – for just eight pumpkins.

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Brad Schmidt | The Oregonian/OregonLive

At peak season, Daletas showers each pumpkin with 180 gallons of water a day. He takes soil and tissue samples, likening each to a blood test for humans. Based on the results, Daletas adjusts his fertilizing plans.

“They eat just like people,” he said.

Daletas said he’s mastered the craft of growing huge pumpkins by beating mother nature to the punch. It starts with the seeds, he said. Instead of letting the bees do the pollinating, Daletas does it himself.

“We aren’t modifying,” he said. “We’re just kind of beating the bees to what they do.”

This year’s giant pumpkin came from seeds harvested from one of his pumpkins last year. And after Halloween, Daletas will return to Bauman Farms in Gervais – where the giant pumpkin is currently on display – to reclaim his gourd for next year’s crop.

“I’ll go harvest the seeds,” he said. “The seeds are the future.”