u/TeachCompetitive2742

Advice? Did i just mess this up?

I just snipped this gourd off the vine! Its about 4.8lb, and im curious about how well its going to dry. My goal is to dry it and keep it for a birdhouse or a decoration. My plant was putting all its energy into this 1 gourd, and all the other ​baby gourds were not growing. They were shriveling and falling off before they ever grew to any decent size. Do you think this gives my plant a chance to make more gourds?

I know we are supposed to wait for gourds to mature and dry on the vine before harvesting in order to dry properly. Is this big gourd destined to rot? Will it dry alright if im careful?

My second tumble ever, first success with polish!!! Some of them arent perfect, but im over the moon with how these turned out.

I started this tumble about 2 months ago, this was my 2nd attempt at tumbling anything. I posted this rock a little while ago and people told me it looks like ambergris- spoiler alert- it is not. The white chalky coating tumbled away within 24 hours. I ran it through 5 stages, and washed with soap in between each stage. It looks like the edges of this rock got a little beat up, and the white aluminum oxide polish is stuck in some of the bruising/cracks. But this turned out really cool. This is the first time I have ever gotten anything shiny (my first tumble turned out pretty matte). Im so proud of it!

Its mostly dark red/orange with flakes of transparent red. The orange seems to be more opaque. The agates I find on the same beach are always white/yellow, so a red agate is pretty rare.

Im still a noob so I really cant identify what this rock is. My guess is agate/carnelian? Some sort of chalcedony?

Does anyone else struggle with getting aluminum oxide stuck in cracks? Should I have added more filler material or ran the shaping stage longer?