A 14-year-old from Graham with a green thumb just made world history.
Graham resident Luting Shen broke the Guinness World Record for growing a giant luffa gourd that he entered in this year’s North Carolina State Fair.
Shen’s 11.2-pound luffa gourd broke the previous record for the world’s heaviest luffa, grown by Graham Barratt and certified at 6.35 pounds on July 28, 2025 by the Wargrave Nursery in Berkshire County, England.
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The Alamance News last spoke with Shen and his family earlier this month, as they were preparing to enter his homegrown luffa into competition at the North Carolina State Fair.
At the time, no one quite knew what to expect. “It’s definitely big,” his mother, Lisa Xu, said before the fair. “But we won’t know the exact weight until it’s officially measured.”
Now they know, and so does the rest of North Carolina.
Just before the 12:00 P.M. deadline on October 15 for entries, Shen carefully cut the enormous luffa from its vine and took it to the state fairgrounds in Raleigh. It initially topped the scales at 11 pounds and 3.3 ounces – nearly double the previous Guinness World Record of 6 pounds and 3.5 ounces.
An official “reweigh” at the fair ultimately confirmed that the luffa weighed 11.2 pounds, while a second variety Shen also grew, a white jade luffa, came in at 7.4 pounds – both heavier than the existing world record. Officials from the N.C. Department of Agriculture, including the head of the fair’s Fruits, Vegetables & Nuts Division, certified the results, Shen’s family confirmed for the newspaper this week.
“We knew it had a chance to break the record, but we didn’t expect it to surpass it by that much,” said Shen’s mother, Lisa Xu.
In addition to his record-breaking luffas, Shen entered a total of 21 vegetables and flowers in the 2025 N.C. State Fair — and came home with 12 ribbons, including three first-place awards for his hickory, osmanthus, and chrysanthemum entries.
Shen previously broke the Guinness World Record in 2023 for another variety of luffa he grew at home, Xu said.
“Luffas love sunlight but not too much,” Shen explained to the newspaper. “I check on them every day. My secret is giving them good music – Classical – and stories from traditional Chinese culture.”
Shen, who is homeschooled, has spent years cultivating his mastery of the science of gardening. He enriches his soil with Black Kow composted manure and a homemade eco-enzyme fertilizer; waters daily; and prunes each vine carefully; and ensures each plant receives the proper amounts of light and airflow.
Fellow exhibitors and officials from the state agriculture department praised Shen’s skill and patience.
“This is what happens when curiosity meets care — and a whole lot of hard work.”
