Hi--I am not familiar with the weather conditions where you live and this is my first year growing gourds in N IL..From what I have read on this web site is that the leaves at the beginning of your vines will start turning yellow now and the growth will continue at the ends of the vines and on your gourds. They said that they won't be ready to harvest until after the first frost and the vines will die and the stems should be brown etc etc. Find the post on here from the gourd guy..He has a lot of good information on there and a lot of others have posted messages and he has answered them also. It is very lucky for a lot of us gourd growers that he is on this site...You can even email him from his post and he will email you back. I wouldn't do anything to your gourds (except water them if you are having a drought like we are here) until you check with the gourd guy...If you have problems finding his post let me know through here and I will let you know where he is on the list. Good luck (patience is necessary with gourds)..N H

Hi Huggins,the weather down here was pretty dry and very hot (average 92) I will take your advice and leave the gourds on the vine . We do not have frost in Nassau, Bahamas our climate is similar to South Florida so I guess I will harvest when the stems turns brown. Thanks for the info for the gourd guy and thanks again for your helpful advice.