Seeds will be flying for a long time after a Water Valley man nearly broke the state record for the largest watermelon ever grown.
Hal Vaughn won the 2024 Water Valley Watermelon Carnival’s growing contest on Saturday for the fifth time in seven years with the melon scaling in at 219.6 pounds. While the massive fruit was less than 20 pounds shy of the state record – a feat Hal’s distant cousin, Jerry Vaughn, achieved in 2013 with a 239.5-pound melon – it did set the record for the largest fruit ever weighed in at the annual north Mississippi event.
During a Monday appearance on Good Things with Rebecca Turner, Vaughn explained how he goes about growing a record watermelon.
“Well, you start with a Carolina Cross as the seed that you plant. They’re not a jubilee; they’re made to get bigger,” Vaughn said. “You have to have your soil ready first, though. You’ve got to build your soil up. I use gin trash and sand. You’ve got to get your fertilizer just right. You start in the fall of the (previous) year.”
Placing behind Vaughn in this year’s growing contest was Kenny Harmon with a 196.1-pound melon and Alan Rogers with a 169.6-pound melon. Vaughn’s record melon was auctioned off to local dentist Dr. Harry Rayburn for $2,100.
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