Sacramento Digs Gardening: Tiger King is Halloween royalty

That's a winner! The 2,350-pound Tiger King pumpkin was grown by Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minn. (Photos courtesy of Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off)

This Tiger King conquered Halloween – both in California and Minnesota. Make that all of North America. His tale is inspiration for giant pumpkin growers everywhere.

At a whopping 2,350 pounds, the biggest pumpkin grown this year in North America won the recent Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay. It was the second biggest pumpkin ever to win the contest.

On Halloween day Saturday, Tiger King will roll down the streets (aboard a semi-truck) in the 100th annual Halloween Parade in Anoka, Minn., near where it was grown. Anoka bills itself as the “Halloween Capital of the World.”

A first-time contestant in any pumpkin weigh-off, Travis Gienger, 40, grew the gigantic striped pumpkin in Minnesota, then hauled it to Half Moon Bay for the annual weigh-off. At the suggestion of his brother, he nicknamed it “Tiger King” (after the Netflix documentary) because of his prized pumpkin’s distinctive stripes.

Tiger King rode to the scales along with a stuffed tiger mascot.

Gienger may be new to Half Moon Bay, but he’s been a serious pumpkin grower since high school. Tiger King grew from a single seed (for which Gienger paid $80) that was harvested from a 1,501-pound pumpkin.

Originally, Gienger intended to send his pumpkin to the New York Botanical Garden to be carved for a Halloween display. But that event was canceled by the pandemic.

Instead, the grower brought his Tiger King to California.

“We brought (Tiger King) from the Halloween Capital of the World, to the Pumpkin Capital of the World,” he said.

Gienger didn’t weigh Tiger King until the official contest. He was surprised as anyone by the pumpkin’s weight. Measuring 19-1/2 feet in diameter, the massive pumpkin rode to the scale with a stuffed tiger mascot.

The trip was worth it. At $7 per pound, Gienger’s prize money added up to $16,450.

After the weigh-in, Gienger loaded up Tiger King and headed back home to celebrate a very happy Halloween.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

pumpkin contest gardening Sacramento giant pumpkin pumpkin fall events Half Moon Bay Halloween fall decor

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March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

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March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

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Garden Checklist for week of March 16

Make the most of dry breaks between showers. Your garden is in high-growth mode.

* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.

* Prepare vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.

* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.

* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch-thick under the tree (but avoid piling it up around the trunk). This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cauliflower, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground. (To speed germination, soak beet seeds overnight in room-temperature water before planting.)

* Before the mercury starts inching upward, this is your last chance to plant such annuals as pansies, violas and primroses.

* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.

* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.

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