Man says growing vegetables as big as babies is like a sport

A man who grows vegetables that are taller than children and as heavy as babies has said his hobby is "like a sport".

Aniket Sardana, a veterinary surgeon who lives in Bristol, said he became "fascinated" by gardening when he was seven and opted to buy seed packets instead of sweets during his childhood.

A meeting with a world record-breaking giant vegetable grower in 2020 inspired him to start growing colossal crops, including a 1.46m (4.79ft) carrot, a 1.38kg (3.04lb) aubergine and a 65.8cm (25.9in) cucumber.

"It's like a sport - it's thrilling and all consuming. I just love it," Sardana said.

The 43-year-old has won prizes for his giant crops after going head-to-head with other growers in competitions to produce the biggest, heaviest and longest vegetables.

He said the secret to growing giant vegetables includes careful planning and each plant had to be managed differently.

"If you're going for the heaviest tomato, you'll probably remove the other tomatoes on the plant to get one very heavy one.

"With normal growing, you'd have a steady crop through the summer, and you'd harvest many.

"With giants, you often don't harvest any during the season, you allow one to get huge, and then harvest it right at the end," he added.

Sardana initially focused on carrots - which grew to 1.3m (4.3ft) in length - alongside aubergines, cucumbers, beetroot and marrows.

Earlier this year, he planted chillies, which are currently more than 39cm (15in) long.

He also grew 7kg (15lb) cantaloupe melons, but they were overripe and could not be entered into competition.

Sardana said he was "proudest" of his giant watermelon crop, which he was able to grow "very easily" amid the record-breaking heat over the summer.

After competitions, Sardana usually gives his crops to a neighbour who then gives them to farm animals.

"I think I'd struggle to eat it all myself and a lot of the time they're quite watery, because they're grown for size rather than being the most enjoyable," he said.

He encouraged anybody else wanting to grow huge vegetables to try it themselves and added: "Give it a go, you will go wrong at times but it doesn't matter, just learn from your mistakes."

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