Ryan Ethridge grows state champion pumpkin in Stephens County
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
For a few minutes Saturday afternoon, all shopping at the Stephens County 4-H Trade Show on the courthouse lawn came to a halt while just about everyone in downtown Breckenridge gathered along North Court Street to watch the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off.
Ryan Ethridge poses for a picture with his state record pumpkin and his family, his wife Jamie Ethridge and sons Grayson, center, and Gage, left. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Ryan Ethridge’s giant pumpkin had been sitting in the back of his truck, cushioned by a thick circle of foam rubber. When the time for the weighing arrived, a large crane was used to hoist the pumpkin off of the truck and swing it – gently – over to the scale on the sidewalk on the east side of the Stephens County Courthouse.
With Ethridge’s pumpkin situated on the scale, the digital display was uncovered, revealing a new state record – 1,340 pounds – as the crowd cheered.
The previous state record was set last year in Breckenridge with a 995-pound pumpkin grown in Brownfield. Ethridge’s 2025 entry weighed in at mere 359 pounds.
He said he’s learned a lot in the past year. “It’s just a whole process,” Ethridge said about growing the Texas’ largest pumpkin. “There’s a lot of learning that you just pick up over years of trying it and just watching what a bunch of growers up north do and just kind of adapting it to this Texas heat.”
On his place in Harpersville, Ethridge worked hard for the past six months to protect the pumpkin from the heat, wind and storms. He said he used two kinds of netting to protect the pumpkin from the sun and wind.
“The big storms we had back in May and July, we had 60-70 mile an hour wind gusts,” he said. “I had wind nets, and it would have ripped my plant out of the ground (without the nets). That’s why a lot of people weren’t laying them in this year, because the weather was bad and the high heat.”
Ethridge said it’s hard to pollinate the plants in high temperatures. “I had mine pollinated before that 105 (degrees) set in, before that dry period,” he said. “It was definitely harder (this year). Usually we don’t get 58 days of over 100 degrees. Usually we get a break. There was a little bit of rain here and there, but I think that would have helped it out a lot more, too.”
Once the pumpkin vines got big enough, Ethridge focused on growing the pumpkin. With water and fertilizer, it was growing 30 to 50 pounds a day, he said.
“It’s fun watching it grow,” Ethridge said. “You can see the growth every eight hours. I’d come home from work and be like, ‘Oh, it got bigger.’ Wake up the next morning, see it before work. ‘Oh, it’s even bigger than it was yesterday.’”
Throughout the growing process, Ethridge learned as much as he could about growing giant pumpkins, often consulting with other growers, including those in the northeast, where a lot of large pumpkins are grown. In that area, the long summer days without the super-hot temperatures create a great environment for pumpkin growing.
“I learned a lot this year,” he said. “You know, I think I could have got it a lot bigger than what it was if I had the knowledge I have now.”
Just two weeks before Ethridge set the Texas record with his giant pumpkin, Ron Wallace, a Rhode Island gardener and online gardening supply retailer, set the world record with his pumpkin weighing 3,156 pounds. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, when Wallace set the record on Oct. 10, he broke the world record that had been set on Oct. 3 by Ian Paton in Hampshire, England, with a pumpkin weighing 2,856 pounds and 12.8 ounces.
Ethridge said he isn’t sure what he’s going to do with the giant pumpkin he grew in Stephens County, beyond getting the seeds out of it. But, up in the northeast, Wallace took his world record-breaker to Salem, Massachusetts, where it was carved into the world’s heaviest Jack-o’-lantern by several professional giant pumpkin carvers from The Food Network.
Even though Ethridge said he’s glad to get this year’s pumpkin growing season wrapped up, he’s planning on growing another one next year. “I have to, because I know there’s a lot of other people that know how to do this, too, and I think I woke up a bunch of the old Texas record holders to try again,” he said.
After the weigh-in, the crowd in downtown Breckenridge gathered around for pictures with the giant pumpkin. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
In addition to the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-in, visitors to the Stephens County 4-H Trade Show on Saturday could visit a small pumpkin display and purchase one to take home with them. Other booths were set up on the courthouse lawn with vendors selling everything from baked goods to baseball cards. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Ryan Ethridge guides his giant pumpkin to the scale on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 24. A crane was used to move the pumpkin, which weighed 1,340 pounds, a Texas record. Click here to see more photos. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
