It’s the ultimate vast food – a marrow grown from seed to a whopping 8st 6lb  lump of veg in just FIVE WEEKS.

Green-fingered Phil Vowles, 65, cultivated the knobbly green monster using a  special cross-pollination technique.

But even he was stunned at the speed of its development.

Retired gardener Phil, who once held the record for the world’s heaviest  cucumber at 18lb 8oz, said: “It’s very unusual for it to grow so quick. It’s the  biggest I’ve ever produced – I had to get my son to help me lift it.”

Now Phil, of Llanharry, South Wales, is hoping the marrow could eventually  top 150lb – and land him another world record.

He plans to enter it in a specialist show and says it has already become a  local talking point – getting regular visits from his amazed  grandchildren.