Why do pumpkins grow so big?
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If you could grow a giant pumpkin, what would you like to do with it?
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Transcript
Have you ever seen a pumpkin so big it looks like it could be a tiny house?
A pumpkin plant spreads wide leaves in the sun. The leaves make food from sunlight, air, and water.
That food travels down the vine into the pumpkin. The pumpkin stores it as it grows rounder and heavier.
Some pumpkin plants have been grown to make extra-large pumpkins. With lots of sun, water, and room, they can grow huge.
So that's why pumpkins can grow so big. Their leaves send lots of food into one round, growing pumpkin!
For grown-ups: the science
Pumpkins grow big because their leaves make food, and the pumpkin stores that food as it grows.
Pumpkins are fruits that develop from flowers. Their leaves photosynthesize, making sugars that move through the plant to the developing fruit. Pumpkin varieties differ greatly in size; giant pumpkin types have been selectively bred, and large fruits need favorable growing conditions such as sunlight, water, nutrients, space, and a long growing season.