While the Halloween holiday has encouraged many Western farmers to invest in growing giant pumpkins, farmers in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong are just getting their first glimpse of these enormous vegetables.

Le Huu Phan, who has about 30 years of experience studying and developing hybrids of imported vegetables in Da Lat City, is the master behind these enormous orbs. Phan has just harvested his first crop of pumpkins, all of which measure more than 30kg.

"My biggest pumpkin weighs more than 80kg, but it could be much heavier than that," he said proudly.

Giant pumpkins captured his attention many years ago, but Phan only managed to get 100 seeds from the US early this year. In April, he planted 50 of the seeds as a trial run in his 150sq.m greenhouse.

Three months later, fruit was beginning to form. Phan cut off all the small fruits and only left one pumpkin per vine.

"These are non-genetically modified fruits. I had to limit each vine to only one pumpkin to give them room and nutrients to grow to such a large size," he said.

At the beginning of the month, he harvested 11 pumpkins weighing between 30 and 60kg. The rest are still growing, with one already weighing about 80kg.

"The taste of imported pumpkins is quite different from native fruits. They are sweeter, more starchy and totally safe. These fruit are great to cook with or even for decorative purposes," Phan said.

With the initial success, Phan said he planned to plant ten more seeds and would try to graft three vines together to raise one fruit. All three plants would provide all their nutrients to support only one fruit.

He expects the crop to produce fruit ranging from 150 and 200kg.

Phan said that he would be prepared to introduce the techniques to other farmers if his second trail was successful and tested by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Phan has studied plant multiplication on his own since graduating from high school. He has spent more than 30 years studying and multiplying dozens of imported plants and enjoyed success with about 20 species. His most popular successes were artichokes and bell peppers, which have been classified as main local fruit by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The giant pumpkins will be on display during the upcoming Flower Festival 2012 in Da Lat this December.

VNS