UK farmer grows enormous 9kg onion which may break Guinness World Record

Gareth Griffin, a farmer from Guernsey, United Kingdom grew a 9-kilogramme gigantic onion which was displayed at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show held in North Yorkshire and may break the Guinness World Record.

The “eye-watering enormous onion” weighed 8.97 kilogrammes on the first day of the show and “stands to be a new world record”, according to the flower show.

Griffin is pictured holding an onion that appears to be much bigger than his head in an Instagram post.

8.5kg is the current record for the heaviest onion. On September 12, 2014, the vegetable — which was cultivated by Tony Glover of the UK — was weighed at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show. The onion owned by Gareth Gryphon weighs about 0.5kg more. 

However, the Guinness World Records has not officially confirmed the record.

Gareth Griffin's onion was weighed during the flower show's National English Honour Society (NEHS) Giant Vegetable Competition. According to The Independent, enormous cabbages, beetroots, and marrows were among the other vegetables weighed during the competition.

Gareth Griffin explained to BBC that he got interested in growing onions after watching his father do it. Griffin claimed that since attending the world championships 12 years ago, he "really got into it" and had been attempting to break the record for the heaviest onion.

“I nearly got it in 2014 but was a couple of ounces off the record. I've tried ever since and this year it went well. I suppose it’s quite a bit bigger than a football and more of a rugby ball shape,” he said.

Griffin revealed that he experimented with two distinct vegetable-growing methods that included automatic irrigation and 24-hour lighting. When the onion was completely grown, he carefully carried it by ferry while keeping it "well cushioned in a box".