ROCKLAND — David Troup of the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland has tried his hand at growing a giant pumpkin. The Farnsworth has partnered with three other Midcoast organizations, Boothbay Railway Museum, Maine Maritime Museum and Damariscotta’s Pumpkin Fest. The purpose is to form Maine’s Pumpkin Trail, which is a series of events running from Labor Day until October.

The events culminate with the October 2 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth Weigh-off that’s part of the Damariscotta Pumpkin Fest and Regatta. That event includes racing pumpkin boats, parades and flying and smashing pumpkins.

Ed Pierpoint, of Gardiner, set a new State of Maine record in 2015 with a pumpkin weighing in at 1,727.5 pounds. The win netted him a purse of $10,000.

Troup got his seeds from Damariscotta’s Seedling Sunday in May. His seeds came from the 2015 winner’s pumpkin; yes, that behemoth 1,727-pounder.

“I got two seedlings from them,” said Troup. “Once we got a sense as to which one was doing better, we let one go because our patch isn’t big enough to hold two.”

Troup said he is in the patch every morning taking care of his pumpkin.

“Yes, every morning,” he said. “It also has to be fertilized three times a week. There’s a lot of watering and cutting back, especially the new female flowers when they bud.”

Troup estimates his pumpkin weighs about 170 pounds right now.

“I’m hoping for over 200 pounds,” he said. “I would feel really good about that.”

The Farnsworth’s pumpkin will not be part of the Damariscotta Pumpkin Fest.

“We have a major event,” said Troup. “Part of our partnership involves a free community opening on the first Friday in October.”

Troup said they hope to attract 400 to 500 people for the opening of a show, the Art of Disaster.

“Our pumpkin is going to feature prominently in a pumpkin disaster, hopefully on Main Street,” he said. “We are not saying what the disaster will be, but we are envisioning more of a sculptural solution.”

Troup said the museum plans on participating in the Maine Pumpkin Trail again next year.

“We received a wonderful grant for Maine’s Pumpkin Trail for this year and the plan is to try and apply for a larger grant,” he said. “It’s to really try and bring droves of people from the Boston and New Hampshire area up to the Midcoast. And that’s why we started this partnership.”

Growing giant pumpkins is not easy. I know, I’ve tried. I got six in the 100-pound range, but it was a lot of work. You need to spend at least an hour or two every day tending to them. Now I want to try it again next year. I’ll start with four seedlings and wean it back to two when the time is right.

There is a lot of joy and a great feeling of accomplishment in growing giant pumpkins.

David Troup is the Communications Officer for the Farnsworth Museum. The museum is at 16 Museum Street in Rockland.