BOSTON -- A Sharon, Mass., man believes he may have in his back yard the biggest pumpkin anyone's grown this year.

Steve Connolly said his squash weighs about 1,800 pounds, Boston station WCVB reported.

Connolly said he planted the pumpkin on May 1 and then pollinated it on July 3 and it's been growing into a monster for the past three months.

He said on some days during its rapid growth phase it was putting on about 45 pounds per day.

To boost growth, Connolly said he used North American Kelp, cow manure, maple leaf compost, seaweed fertilizer and Neptune's Harvest fish fertilizer.

Connolly said he also used RTI mycorrhizae, a naturally occurring root stimulating fungi, that latches onto the pumpkin roots to produce a massive pumpkin root structure. According to Connolly, it allows the plant to draw more energy and produce phenomenal growth.

The big pumpkin will be harvested Oct. 10 in Sharon and weighed Oct. 11 at Frerich's Farm in Warren, Mass.

Connolly said there will be about 55 entrants from New England and usually about 3,000 people show up to watch the weigh-in.

He said Guinness World Records will be in attendance to verify if his pumpkin has set a new record.