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532,4kg pumpkin wins in Heidelberg

| Awards and achievements

Piet Lotz, a farmer from Riversdale in the Western Cape, was crowned the 2018 champion at the 8th annual Giant Pumpkin Festival in Heidelberg this weekend with a pumpkin weighing in at an astounding 532,4kg.

His monster pumpkin was a little short of the current South African record of 556kg set by Hugo le Roux in March 2017.

“It’s fourth time lucky for me. I entered the competition on three previous occasions, but my pumpkins never passed the 300kg mark. This year’s conditions weren’t ideal for breeding giant pumpkins and I was afraid that my pumpkin was once again going to weigh too little.”

- Piet Lotz, winner of the 2018 Giant Pumpkin Festival Competition

 The winning pumpkin was grown from special hand-selected pumpkin seeds - Dill’s Atlantic Giant - supplied by Shoprite and Checkers to all competition entrants. Imported from Canada and especially bred for size, the seeds aren’t treated or genetically modified in any way and is the variety of choice for those wishing to produce pumpkins in excess of 300kg.

Second place this year went to his wife, Elizna Lotz, with her 438kg pumpkin, followed by Pinkie Swart’s pumpkin at 365,8kg.

As champion of the 2018 Giant Pumpkin Competition, received R14 000 in cash, while second and third place received R7 000 and R3 500 respectively. Prize money was sponsored by Shoprite and Checkers. Additional prizes were also awarded for the prettiest and ugliest pumpkins.

Ronèl Swart, representing Elizna Lotz who wasn't able to attend (2nd - 438kg), Piet Lotz, 2018 champion at the Heidelberg Giant Pumpkin Competition (1st - 532,4kg) and Pinkie Swart (3rd - 365,8kg).

In keeping with Heidelberg’s strong community spirit, all proceeds from this two-day festival are ploughed back into the town.

Previous winners of the Giant Pumpkin Competition:

YEAR

NAME

WEIGHT OF PUMPKIN

2017

Corné van Greunen

519,5kg

2016

Louwrens van Deventer

373kg

2015

Pinkie Swart

483,6kg

2014

Pinkie Swart

497,5kg (former SA record)

2013

Johan du Plessis

417,5kg

2012

Henry du Plessis

390kg

2011

Johan du Plessis

349,2kg

 

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