Sure, you can joke about things like huge foods becoming sentient and going to the gym 8 days a week and taking steroids and all that jazz to explain how they got as big as they did. However, the explanation is much more boring, but still important to know.

Long story short, it boils down to two things: the right conditions and genetics.

The second one is easier to explain, we’ll start with that. Genetic selection is, essentially, growing a harvest and seeing which of the harvested fruit came out the best. Then you take their seeds, as they have the most preferred genes, and use those for your next planting. Rinse and repeat multiple generations until the dominant population of fruit is whatever desirable property that you want it to be (e.g. bigger, of a certain color, etc.).

As for the right conditions, there’s much more to cover, so bear with me.

A key part in making fruit healthy is the soil. If your soil is rich in minerals and other grounded necessities, you can bet those will be absorbed into the fruit or vegetable that you’re growing and will hence benefit more from it compared to the sucker that gets less of it. That’s essentially why fertilizers were invented.

Next up, a growable will definitely need water. But not a lot of water, rather balanced amounts of water. Too little of it and it might hinder its growth and wilt it, and too much of it and your fruit or veggies might rot and develop disease. The soil has to be consistently moist, but not waterlogged, and there are ways to help manage droughts and bogging.

It goes without saying that plants require care. Sure, the forest kinda sorta does things on its own, but if you want to leave it up to chance and let Mother Nature reclaim the land as its own, then go for it.

With that said, pruning and thinning is a must. Cutting off branches and other floral extremities allows the plant to direct more nutrients to the places that actually matter: the fruits. But always consult your plant guides to know if and how much you need to do this.

Then there’s things like feeding your veggies and fruits. Sure, the soil, the tin can and the sun provide pretty much all that a plant needs, but the right amounts and appropriate fertilizers help boost the harvest. And if not in quantity, then in quality. That’s part of the reason why you can end up with a unit of a fruit, so buff you can accurately pinpoint how many leg days it never skipped.

Now, all of this is important, but there’s one more factor to consider, and we talked about it in the beginning: genetics.

Fruit size is determined by the genes—that’s a huge part why genetic selection is a thing in the first place. And so, if you happen to get yourself some seeds for fruits or veggies that are genetically big, you’re welcome. However, some varieties don’t pride themselves in size, but have other qualities folks might enjoy, like sweetness or ingestive convenience. I’m looking at you, cherry tomatoes.

Now, does any of this have an impact on whether the fruit is rendered inedible because of its size? It depends.

Overgrown zucchini, for instance, can be eaten no matter the size, really. While it does change consistency with size, making it impossible for certain recipes, it is still edible and anything can be turned into a casserole.

Pumpkins, on the other hand, are amazing to grow large for size competitions at state fairs. Not so much for culinary adventures. You see, they become very watery and tasteless with their size. Besides that, they also retain a lot of the fertilizer used to overgrow them—again, for bragging rights. Pumpkins are loved by farm animals no matter the size, though, so there’s that.

So, what are some of your large fruit stories? Have any glorious giants and anomalies of the production cycle that you’d be proud to share? Do so in the comment section below!

Also, be sure to not stop here and continue on scrolling winners of the food lottery.