Giant cucumber grown in Cornwall takes runner-up spot at national championships
David Thomas has been competing for 26 years and says it all comes down to picking the right seed.
A Cornwall gardener has been celebrating success at this year's National Giant Vegetables Championships, taking home a string of prizes for his colossal cucumbers.
David Thomas, from Cornwall, entered two vegetables into this year's competition - and came away with a second place finish in the heavy cucumber class and sixth place in the long cucumber class.
His heavy cucumber weighed in at around eleven and a half kilos, while his long cucumber measured an impressive ninety four to ninety five centimetres.
Thomas said there was no secret trick to producing oversized cucumbers, but that everything starts with choosing the right seed.
"There's no big secrets," he said.
"You've got to start with the right seed. If you haven't got the right seed, you're not going to grow a big cucumber or long cucumber."
He explained his growing process begins in early summer.
"I don't seed til about the first of June and just grow them up a stem, pick a nice looking cucumber that's at least four foot off the ground and let it grow," he said.
"It's supported a bit with something around it to hold the stem up. You just watch it and look after it basically."
Mr Thomas said he has been competing in giant vegetable competitions for more than two and a half decades, and says his passion for the hobby began almost by accident.
"Where the passion comes from, I have no idea," he said.
"I suppose seeing a pumpkin the first time sort of got me hooked, so I grew one at home and brought it to a show. It wasn't this show at the time, it was down at Chapman Mallet, the National was - but that was twenty six years ago."
Since then, he's tried his hand at a variety of giant vegetables, though he's since scaled back from growing pumpkins - largely down to logistics.
"Mine aren't that big this year with the cucumbers - we come up, we've got a car, so they fit on the back seat, you know, it's nothing too big," he said.
"But if you've got a pumpkin, you need a lorry, don't you? So that's why I don't grow pumpkins anymore."
For Mr Thomas, the annual trip to the championships is about much more than the results board - he's grown a friendship group, too.
"You see them for twelve months, you have a good old chat, a bit of banter," he said. "It's a good trip. We treat it like a holiday."
Asked whether he'd be back to defend his placings next year, Mr Thomas didn't hesitate.
"I will be here next year, definitely," he said.
He's already planning ahead for his 2027 entries, with preparations starting months in advance.
"I'll start my cabbage seed in the middle of November, so that's the first thing I start. They'll go in in November, then go outside in April. The cucumbers - they don't start until June the first."
With decades of experience behind him and no shortage of enthusiasm for the year ahead, David Thomas looks set to be a fixture at the National Giant Vegetables Championships for years to come.