Pumpkins come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and serve a couple of different purposes. They can be anywhere from small enough to fit in your hand, to heavier than the average person. To make it easier to pick the size Pumpkin you want, the species are broken down into various sizes. There are mini or tiny, small, medium, large, and giant.
There are a lot of in-between sizes and species as well. On average, you can expect Pumpkins to weigh between half a pound and 300 pounds (5.5 to 136 kg). These Pumpkins can be used for cooking, decorating, or competition.
The size of a Pumpkin doesn’t depend just on weight, but on dimensions too. You can have Pumpkins between 5 and 22 inches (15 and 56 cm). If your Pumpkin is too big to weigh through traditional means, the best way to get a good estimate of the weight is to measure the length, width, and circumference.
How Much Does a Tiny Pumpkin Weigh?
A tiny Pumpkin is a size below small. You can expect them to weigh anywhere between half a pound and 2 pounds (0.22 to 0.9 kg). These are very tiny Pumpkins that make adorable little decorations and not much more.
Despite being much smaller than most other Pumpkins, they tend to take the same amount of time to grow. Some mini varieties include Early Sweet Sugar Pie, Jack Be Little, Baby Boo, Mystic, Small Sugar Pumpkin, Baby Bear, Bat Wing, Tiger Striped, Hooligan Pumpkin, and Wee Be Little.
How Much Does a Small Pumpkin Weigh?
Generally, to be considered small, a Pumpkin must weigh between 2 and 10 pounds (0.9 to 4.5 kg). There’s a lot of variability between ranges, and not a lot of agreement on what makes a Pumpkin small. Some people say they should be even smaller, not growing larger than 4 pounds (1.8 kg). In general, any Pumpkin below 10 pounds (4.5 kg) is considered small.
Despite being small, these Pumpkins often take about three months or 110 days to mature. This isn’t the smallest variety of Pumpkins either, as there are ones that can weigh below 2 pounds (0.9 kg).
Most Pumpkins that are considered small are ones like Cannonball, Small Sugar, and Early Abundance. These are, on average, between 5 and 7 pounds (2.3 and 3.2 kg) but can be a little bigger or smaller.
You can also go by diameter. Small Pumpkins are often between 5 and 10 inches (15 to 25.5 cm) in diameter. You can also break it into subcategories. For example, there are very small, small, and small-medium for Pumpkins that are on the edge. Generally, 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) and 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) are considered very small, which is about the size of an apple. An example is Baby Boo.
There are also standard small Pumpkins, which are 5 to 5.5 inches (12.7 to 14 cm) and 5 pounds (2.3 kg). An example is a Baby Pam Pumpkin, which is about the size of a grapefruit. Finally, the small-medium Pumpkins are 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25.5 cm), and between 7 and 9 pounds (3.1 and 3.6 kg). These Pumpkins are about the size of basketballs, and an example is Winter Luxury.
These Pumpkins work well for eating and make excellent Pumpkin pies, but they can also be used for jack-o-lanterns.
How Much Does a Medium Pumpkin Weigh?
Medium Pumpkins are often what people think of when they think of Pumpkins. These are the varieties often used to make jack-o-lanterns, but they can be used for cooking as well. Generally, Pumpkins in the medium category weigh around 15 to 20 pounds (7 to 9 kg).
If you notice, this leaves a gap between small and medium. This is because there isn’t a lot of consensus about the sizes. For example, some say between 15 to 20 pounds (7 to 9 kg) while others say between 10 and 25 pounds (4.5 and 11 kg).
If there is a lot of debate, then you can also go based on the kind of Pumpkin it is. Some examples of medium-sized Pumpkins include Casper, Musquee De Provence, Connecticut Field, and Secretariat.
There are also two other ranges for medium. The first is just standard medium, which is about 12 inches (30.5 cm) in diameter, and 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kg). This makes it about the size of a small beach ball, and Spirit is an example of a kind.
Then there are the medium to large Pumpkins, which are between 7 and 11 inches (18 to 28 cm), and 14 to 18 pounds (6.8 to 8.2 kg). This makes them about the size of a medium beach ball, and the specific Jack O’ Lantern breed is an example.
Medium Pumpkins take a little longer to grow, so you need to start them pretty early in the spring to make sure that they reach maximum weight before Halloween. Generally, they take about 120 days to reach full weight.
How Much Does a Large Pumpkin Weigh?
Large Pumpkins aren’t much bigger than medium ones, hitting between 25 and 30 pounds (11 to 14 kg), but others say that anything under 100 pounds (45 kg) counts as large. Generally, large brands of Pumpkins include Early King, Gladiator, Howden, and Bunch O’ Warts.
These Pumpkins are generally just used for competition or decoration. They tend to have too tough of pulp and lack the characteristic sweet taste that other Pumpkins have.
Of course, there are ranges as well for large Pumpkins. You have the standard large, between 16 and 19 inches (40.6 to 48 cm) and 20 to 28 pounds (9.1 to 12.6 kg). This makes them about the weight of a cinder block, and an example is Pankow’s Field. Then, there are very large, which are between 20 and 22 inches (51 to 56 cm) and 29 to 100 pounds (13 to 45.3 kg). An example of this size is Jumpin’ Jack.
Then there are giant Pumpkins, which weigh over 100 pounds (45.3 kg).
How Much Does a Typical Pumpkin Weigh?
Though Pumpkins can weigh anywhere between 1 and 300 pounds on average, a weight between 12 and 18 pounds (5.5 to 8 kg) is the most common. However, each size category has its own average, and the average weight depends on how many Pumpkins from each size category are harvested.
How Much Does an Average Jack O’ Lantern Weigh?
There are specific Pumpkins called Jack O’ Lantern Pumpkins which are traditional carving Pumpkins. These ones tend to weigh between 9 and 16 pounds (4 to 7 kg). What makes them stand out is that they are slightly ribbed and oblong shaped with slightly flattened bottoms so they stand up on their own.
How Do You Weigh a Pumpkin?
Most people just estimate the weight of the Pumpkin unless entering a competition where exact weights are necessary. To get the estimate, you take three measurements. This is the length from end to end, the length from side to side, and the circumference. You can calculate the average weight yourself from these measurements, or you can use online calculators to help you out.
However, there are also scales to help you weigh Pumpkins. However, these often don’t work well with large Pumpkins unless you get a very expensive scale.
Summary
There are a lot of different kinds of Pumpkins out there, and they all come with vastly different weights. On average, you can expect a Pumpkin to be anywhere between half a pound and 300 pounds (5.5 to 136 kg), but some can be smaller and some can be much larger.
Medium-sized Pumpkins tend to be the most frequently grown, as they work well for decoration and food. However, some smaller and larger ones are grown as well for decoration. Despite their size difference, many of them tend to take similar amounts of time to grow and depend on being planted early in spring to reach full size.