by Leslie Cox; Tuesday; January 22, 2024

Did you know…

            …the heaviest tomato ever grown, to date, weighed in at an incredible 11.62 lb (5.284 kg)? Its circumference was very close to 3 ft (90 cm), measuring 32.5 inches (82.55 cm).

Del and Julie Faust grew this giant tomato from a packet of 9.06 Brown 2021 seeds and the weighing took place at the Stillwater Harvest Festival in Minnesota on October 8, 2022, duly supervised by the festival officials, as well as representatives from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.

The previous record was held by Dan Sutherland of Walla Walla, WA who grew a tomato weighing 10.8 lb (4.896 kg) in 2020 from his own 9.44 Sutherland 2018 seed. He grew several more really large tomatoes in 2022, the largest of which weighed 16.85 lb (7.64 kg), also from his 9.44 Sutherland seed. Unfortunately, he did not have this tomato verified by officials so Guiness World Records would not acknowledge his larger tomato.