Let me interject one of my theories here about the puckering of gourd shells. The white foamy stuff on the inside of a gourd, if allowed to dry fully, on some types of gourds appears to be very similar to Styrofoam. It is a spongy matter, and like a sponge, as it dries it pulls or shrinks. On the inside surface, where this pulp is actually attached to the shell, this shrinking can have a very strong effect on the shell. My first theory was the shriveling of a gourd had to do largely with the actual spongy stuff on the inside of the gourd drying and shrinking, and while this appears to have some effect, we’ve learned from our next experiment, that even with the removal of this pulpy matter, the shell can still shrivel and pucker.