Pumpkin farmers have mixed harvest
BBCPumpkin growers say they have experienced a mixed year in terms of crops following the hot weather.
Neil 'Pip' Hawken, who runs Pips Pick Your Own in Yealmpton, Devon, said the summer weather left the farm struggling to grow pumpkins ahead of Halloween and left him needing to buy in extra supplies from elsewhere.
But farmers at Strawberry Fields in Lifton, on the Devon-Cornwall border, said their clay-heavy soil at their site had helped retain moisture and produce enough for its Pumpkin Fest event during October.
Farmers across the South West said the heatwaves and warm weather during a provisionally record-breaking summer in the UK had caused them issues with crop yields.
Hawken said his farm, which is spread over 30 acres (12 hectares), normally buys in extra pumpkins and squashes every year, but this time round he has had to get in "a lot more".
Hawken said every pumpkin seed at his farm was planted by hand.
"It is a lot of money, a lot of investment, an awful lot of time," he said.
"You are at the mercy of nature and there's always a lot of things that can go wrong."
He said he normally grows 15,000 pumpkins and buys in another 15,000 to boost stocks.
But this year, due to the size of some of the farm's own crop not being big enough to put out for picking, Hawken said he has bought 20,000 pumpkins to go with the 10,000 they have managed to put out.
Hawken said while he has not been invoiced yet, buying in 20,000 pumpkins is expected to cost in the region of £25,000 to £30,000.
"You can never grow enough," he said.
"We always have to buy in extra pumpkins and squash from elsewhere to make the numbers up, but this year, I've had to buy a lot more in."
At Strawberry Fields, Adam Mounce - the farm's owner - said he had initially been concerned about the pumpkins, which are grown across 40 acres (16 hectares).
Matt AustinBut he said in the end, the crop had grown "exceptionally well", which he said was a relief.
"I've never watered a crop as much as I have this year's pumpkin crop," Mounce said.
"The pumpkins have worried me right through the summer this year just through the lack of rain and the drought that we've had.
"But generally, the pumpkins are quite an exotic plant and they do like the sunshine and it's actually helped set the fruit.... so when the leaves have all died back now, we have got quite a good crop."