Casey Ressler

Steve Hubacek poses with his 126.4-pound cabbage. The behemoth was enough to take top honors at this year’s Alaska State Fair, but just shy of a new world record.

In Alaska, gardeners take advantage of long, hot summer days and cool, short nights to grow some of the world’s biggest fruits and vegetables.

Since 1993, Alaska growers have claimed several Guinness World Records, including a 35-pound broccoli, a 64.8-pound cantaloupe and an 82.9-pound rutabaga.

The largest of the large are displayed each year at the Alaska State Fair, currently underway. And at Friday night’s Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off, locals and tourists gathered to see if the leafy green behemoths trucked in by area gardeners could break the current world record of 127 pounds currently held by Steve Hubacek, a retired dentist who lives outside Wasilla.

Hubacek hoped to break his own record with a cabbage rumored to be four feet tall and seven feet across.

Hubacek told msnbc.com he’d spent the summer carefully feeding and tending a select set of cabbages in his garden and admitted that, at times, he’d personally challenged them. "I did push-ups in front of them. I’d say 'If I can do 100 push-ups ...' and I’d tell them to hurry up."  

Alas, push-ups and some of other unconventional growing methods didn’t totally pay off. His cabbage did win the contest’s $2,000 grand prize, but at 126.4 pounds, it was just shy of setting a new mark.

Scott Robb of Palmer, Alaska, currently holds world records for growing the largest kale, kohlrabi, celery, turnip and cantaloupe. He managed to take second place in the cabbage competition with a 103.8-pound specimen that measured 6 1/2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. "I made a few mistakes early in the season that may have cost me some weight," he said.

Robb's effort earned him $1,000, and he's optimistic about 2012. "I’m on the right track. Now Steve knows next year I’ll be right there with him."

While the two top cabbage growers said they’d happily share their winning vegetables with anyone wishing to whip up a giant batch of coleslaw, they drew the line at sharing secrets to their success.

"Alaska’s long growing season certainly has a lot to do with it," said Franci Havemeister, director of the Division of Agriculture, a unit of Alaska's Department of Natural Resources. "But I wouldn’t expect any of the giant vegetable growers to spill the beans."

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Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter.