RALEIGH, N.C. — Big things are coming to the state fair. 

The great pumpkin and giant watermelon weigh-off competition is being held Tuesday at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds.

Brandon Huber has a Ph.D. in horticulture sciences from N.C. State University. Huber is known for growing the giant corpse plant, but he also has a patch full of giant watermelons, gourds and pumpkins.

“You tend to have a group of people that grow all sorts of giants,” Huber said.

The Pennsylvania native brought his love for growing massive plants and fruit to North Carolina, where he says the climate is ideal for watermelons.

Huber’s current largest melon weighs in at 159.5 pounds. He says there are two key ingredients to getting a healthy watermelon to surpass the 100-pound mark.

“For one, genetics is key. You want to get the seed from the biggest watermelon around. Not that it was just big last year, but it has a track history of being giant. It comes from generations of being some of the biggest watermelons around,” Huber said.

Huber created custom watermelon hammocks and huts for his fruit to grow on to protect them from harsh weather.

“It’s hard to be consistent when you get like a hurricane that comes by and it dumps inches of rain on you out of nowhere, you go from drought periods to rain periods and that can be really difficult,” Huber said.

Huber says in the right conditions, watermelons can grow up to 8 pounds a day.

“Once they stop growing, that’s it. They rarely pick back up again. It’s all a part of observing and making sure everything is good,” Huber said.

Huber says even if you think you have grown the largest watermelon, it all comes down to getting it to the scale.

“Nothing is guaranteed. You can have the world record out here in your patch and lose it. It’s not official until it hits the scale. It’s not just growing in here the patch, it’s getting it to weigh-off,” Huber said.

Gates for the North Carolina State Fair open Thursday at noon.