A man from Enschede has just eight centimetres to go and he will have grown the biggest sunflower ever recorded, according to local media.

Jeroen van der Velde, 39, began growing the giant blooms as a child using seeds collected by his mother. Now he is hoping to beat the record, currently held by a German grower. “There have only been two sunflowers taller than nine metres and mine is one of them,” he told RTV Oost.

The sunflower now towers over his Enschede home, held up by scaffolding and tended three times a day. “No, I can’t go on holiday,” he said. Stress and temperature have to be continually monitored.

“I climb into the scaffolding very carefully,” he said. “Every movement in the scaffolding stresses the plant and that can affect its growth.”

Van der Velde said that the stem of his monster plant is now fully grown and it depends on how the flower develops as to whether or not he beats the record of 9.17 metres. Whatever happens, he said “I am a happy man.”