At times, the giant pumpkins Mark Fowler cultivates are fattening so quickly, adding as many as 40 pounds a day, that he says you can almost stand there and watch them grow.
Then — bam.
One humid day, a soft spot appears in the orange rind, and even though competitive growers such as Fowler will carve it out and drag fans out to the patch to blast it dry, more often than not, it's already over. After months of growth, the pumpkin rots and collapses within days.
