I was in the lovely state of Ohio where the Circleville pumpkin show has been a mainstay for over 60 years. The big finale is the weigh in of the largest pumpkins. As a teen I worked for one of the largest pumpkin growers and in the seventies the biggest weight was 500-600 as I remember. This 1,870 is insane.
Here is what I remember the pumpkin grower telling me. The pumpkin is separated, as in treated differently for the duration of growth and feed and watered especially. The pumpkin is set on special flooring in the garden and watched carefully.
Wow the biggest pumpkin is so much arge than 40 years ago.