Wayne....
I was gettting ready to post a reply earlier but we had company that just now left.
I've taken to forming my rinds in the household fridge since the humidity is very low. This seems to form an almost instant rind on the cheese and I am usually able to wax within two days at the most.
As for long term care of a natural rind, I'm not going to be any help to you.
I have a parmesan and a romano going right now but they are my first attempt at a natural rind, other than my Stiltons.
I have them in my cave at 47 degrees and 68 - 70% RH. I'm checking them daily for cracks or excessive drying.
I've decided that if they seem to be getting too dry I'll try covering them with a tupperware container (turned upside down over the cheese) and see if that helps.
If it doesn't, I will then try using the tupperware with the lid partially closed.....then will try an olive oil rub and will finally resort to waxing these cheeses, only if absolutely necessary.
I can tell you that too much humidity will cause some serious mold problems that are hard to overcome. I used to have a really tough time with my swiss cheeses until I found out I was giving them way too much moisture.
The mold would almost seem to form beneath the surface of the cheese and no amount of rubbing with salt or vinegar would get rid of it.
Once I stopped allowing the cheese to get excessive amounts of moisture, the mold problems completely stopped. I'm sure that it would be pretty much the same with a Gouda or any other pressed cheese.
I haven't checked the humidity of my current swiss but I would guess it to be in the 70% range. This is based on the last swiss that was aged in the same conditions as the current one.
As I said, I have not had a single mold problem and this one has been on the kitchen counter (at 70 degrees) for nearly three weeks.
You might try reducing the humidity to see if that helps. If the wheel begins to suffer, you can always raise the RH back up to solve the problem.
As I said, I'm out of my element here, but it might be something to try.
Dave