That is ok. The bigger the better. I have grown them in North Fulton, not far from Alpharetta, many times in the past. I never did support them like you have done. NO, NO!! don,t cut them !. Keep them on the vine as long as the vine is live, till frost or whatever. Then you can cut an let them mature/fully dry in a shack, or garage for several months., before doing any work on them. Just protect them from squirrels. --------------------------------------- P.S. You might think that with that size they must be heavy(like pumpkins), BUT they are not, b/c they are hollow inside with just some seeds, No flesh, except the wall thickness that hardens as they mature. This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 1:21

Hi Sandlady. I use a one part epoxy paint on my gourd birdhouses. It's called Epoxy II. The manufacturer says its good for 10 years. I brush it on and it is self-leveling. When it dries, its like a coating of glass with no brush marks. I have several that have been out for months and they look the same as the day I put them out. I also burn pix on them and then paint with acrylics. This epoxy goes right over them and protects them from fading also. The down side is that its somewhat expensive, $60 @ gal, and you have to buy it through a dealer but its well worth it. The Amish and Mennonites use it for their buggys, so you know its gotta be good. If interested, do a google search on Epoxy II and that will lead you to the manufacturer and dealers. Gene

The large ones take some care. If you trellis them you have to provide them with support, and if you run them on the ground they have to have lots of room. There's nothing more heartbreaking than to walk under your trellis on a nice morning and see that your biggest gourds have hit the ground and broken (sigh... yes... imagine over a dozen broken ones in one night, I didn't think they were heavy enough yet to fall, lesson learned). Anything that will support them is good, some folks use old pantyhose (which is great and doesn't leave marks, just slip the gourd inside and tie it up to something strong. One way or another, you have to protect them from falling.

Here is an update on my birdhouse gourds. There are lots of gourds on them now, of various sizes and shapes. The plants have been afflicted by lots of aphids, but there have also been some ladybugs helping me out, so I have not sprayed anything. Also they have been hit hard by powdery mildew. Parts of the vine are dying off but other parts are still growing well. A big part has grown over the fence into the neighbor's yard. I went over there today to make sure that was OK with them. Some of the early ones to come out I suspect are probably ready to pick, but I guess I'll leave them there until the whole vine dies, right?