Congratulations, Brian. What gave you the idea?

My hobby is growing giant flowers and vegetables. I've been doing it for a few years. A few years back I grew an Amaranthus cruentus that was nearly 11 feet tall. I thought the record was less, but when I checked I saw that David Brenner, the head curator of Amaranth at the USDA, had a new world record using Amaranthus australis at 15 feet 1 inch. I never heard of Amaranthus australis before. I did some research and found it could grow amazingly tall in the wild. I went on the USDA Germplasm Database and requested the Amaranth australis that produced the record. Since scientific literature says Amaranthus australis is capable of growing to over 9 meters, I thought the record was vunerable. I didn't think I was going to get over 23 feet though. I thought I would be the record by a foot or two, but was happily surprised when it was over 8 feet taller. At first I wasn't taking it too seriously. I grow many other giant plants and didn't give them any special attention. However, my friend in Dutchess County, NY area was also growing them, since I gave him some of the seeds. His plant got ahead of mine and was 4 feet taller by the end of June. He also grew one in a large pot that reached 18 feet and was displayed at the Dutchess County Fair. At that point I knew I had to get serious or I had no chance of getting the world record. I started an intense fertilization program, including Espoma Bio-Tone Starter in enormous quantities. Several weeks later my planted had a major growth spurt, putting on 5 feet in only two weeks. His plant ended up about 22 feet, but had a stem base circumference of over 4 1/2 feet around. I squeaked by him with a 23 feet 2 inch giant.

Here is a picture of my friend's Amaranth in Rhinebeck, NY

the stalk is larger than this now

My friend has quite a few videos of his Amaranth australis plants on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jesseeldrid

Very interesting! I was doing a search on your plant and one of the articles said it'll die back; so, is it an annual? Congratulations btw ;)

Hey mr moore.
its Jesse from N.Y stop talking about me and MY world record Amaranth plant.
the real record is grown by me . it grew 27'10" tall.
stop all this nonsense before it catches up with you.
to look at the 27'-10" world record Amaranth plant go on youtube .

0-yeh Congratulations btw ;)

New York state gardener/farmer Jesse Eldrid specializes in growing heavy, tall, and large vegetables and annual plants. On October 25th, 2007, after a long summer of working, watching, and waiting, he finally contacted county officials in order to obtain a legitimate measurement of the Amaranthus Australis plant he had been growing since the beginning of the year. When Jesse contacted the local bureau of weights and measures, he knew that he had a record-breaking plant -- but he didn't know that his plant would be almost twelve feet (11.98) taller than the the goal he had set for himself in the existing record: the official measurement of the plant, he would learn that afternoon, was 27'10".
In the early Spring months of 2007, Jesse received several amaranth seeds from the USDA NCRPIS (United States Department of Agriculture, North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station). Although one wouldn't think it from the size of the mature plant, Amaranthus seeds themselves are actually quite small (smaller than the head of a pin.) Germinating them was fairly difficult, however. Once he managed to get a handful of young plants growing well, he knew one of them was destined to be huge. On May 15th, when Jesse transplanted the young seedlings outside, they started growing rapidly. The plant that grew the fastest also happened to have the largest trunk (measuring almost five feet around) which may have helped the plant grow significantly taller than normal. (An average "trunk" would have a five to eight inch circumference.)
As the temperatures rose, the plant grew faster and faster. Competition, too, was on the rise. In Spring, Jesse shared a small number of cuttings among friends, and their plants had begun to take on considerable height at around this time, as well. As it turned out, many of these cuttings exceeded the 15' benchmark, some even stretched to 20+ feet.
In the early autumn, near the end of the amaranth's life cycle, Jesse's record-breaking plant was still growing several feet per day. Just before the official measurement, the plant also began producing flowers which also contributed to the overall height of the amaranth. Another factor contributing to the overwhelming size of the plant was the amount of water it received per day -- approximately 30 gallons per plant, per day.
In order to give the plant extra support (and to determine the benchmark for the old record) Jesse built a fifteen foot tall trellis for the amaranth. It didn't take long for the plant to outgrow it, though. By the middle of August, it was no longer possible to measure the plant with a ladder alone. (For the official measurement in October, professional arborists were called in, and a bucket-truck was necessary to get a measurement from the very top of the plant.)
Jesse Eldrid has been growing unusual plants for many years, and gardening is a life-long obsession for him. In the future, he plans on challenging the millet, sorghum, and historic corn records (for height.) He also intends, one day, to beat his own amaranth record. By growing crops such as these, Jesse hopes to raise awareness about the natural world and the potential for alternative energy.

Brian's notice was dated 10/15 and your inspection is dated 10/28 so what's the deal with the bad sportsmanship already?

It's not bad sportsmanship. It is a long story. It comes down to who grew the bigger plant, not who brought in the bigger media or the better cameras. It's about gardening.
I had twelve plants over 23' tall. Most of Brian's plants were *clones* of my certified 27'10" plant. He has left that information out of all of his articles, and posted up elsewhere that my plant is a "bigfoot" type of claim. Not only does he know better -- but he should have *acted* better, too. It's a much longer story than this, and it would probably make a good book. Maybe Brian would be interested in helping me write it??

http://nyswma.com/Documents/January_Newsletter%5B1%5D.pdf

Jesse's certified Amaranth plant was 5 feet larger then the NJ "GWR" plant . look out for GardenMonsters.org coming soon.