A trellis-grown gourd will roll around on a round bottom. On the ground, gourd vines root at the joints, providing extra nutrition and insurance against vine borers. Growers have widely, make that wildly, different ideas about fertilizing hardshells. Some think none is best, other fertilize daily with manure tea. Everybody agrees that fertilizing after August encourages leaf growth when the gourd should be hardening.
Few pests bother hardshells.
Snails and cucumber beetle larvae can kill seedlings. Adult cucumber beetles chew holes in leaves, but more important, carry bacterial wilt. Squash bugs are often abundant. Vine borers don't seem to bother hardshells. The remedy is harvest when the gourd is mature.