Watermelons

[Dodge Man]

How do you "Know" when they are ready?

I have grown / help grow them most of my life and have always guessed when they are ready.

Dose anybody know a for sure way to know they are ready?

This year I have 2 rows of watermelons. I have 3 different variety Sugar Babys, Charleston Gray, and the ones we have always grown Black Diamond.

 

[TNDeerGuy]

They way I have always picked them is if there is a yellow/whitish spot on the bottom where they lay on the dirt and if they sound "hollow" when thumped. This has never let me down, but I know others have some good methods as well.

 

[RodBone75]

thumping them. that is the way my granddaddy showed me.

 

[Dodge Man]

Thumping is fine but you have to know the sound you are looking for or you are just wasting your time.

 

[Dodge Man]

I picked a sugar baby today, they are suppose to be full grown at 8 inch in diameter, it was about 8 inches. It was heavy for it size, it sounded ripe with the thump test (or at least I thought so). It had a yellow colored spot on the bottom where it had been laying in the dirt.

I cut it and it was almost white all the way through, just a pale pink in the center. :(

 

[chip]

The stem where it attaches to the melon will turn brown also , that's when I pick mine.

 

[RodBone75]

your bogus.

 

[Dodge Man]

So there is no good way to tell like I thought? :D

 

[spoon]

I've always gone by the stem turning brown

 

[Nimrod777]

From what I heard, as advisement beyond pappy's old thumpin method, ripe melons will tend to take on a dustier look as opposed to the glossy finish of an unripe fruit.

The thump probably tells more about the water content than ripeness.

The brown stem... well, ripe or not, you may as well pick it, because it's not getting anything else from the root system!

 

[RodBone75]

your bogus. [color:#CC0000](you're)[/color]

And you sir, need to brush up on your grammar.

That's okay, they don't teach that down at the melon patch. LOL


:D thanks grammar police :D

 

[TX300mag]

I wait for the tendril to die and turn completely brown. Once the stem has a good brown spot where it goes into the melon, it lets loose easily and is ripe.

I'm still not 100% by any means, but it works well for me.

 

[wlf89]

i have picked them and the stem be completly green and hard to pull off and they be over ripe

 

[TX300mag]

The stem should stay green, and a browning will develop on the melon along the stem. The tendril will die and shrivel.

 

[Bow Hunter]

I just let the wife go to krogers and get mine and they are always ripe. :D

 

[Paul Burns]

Turn it over and there will usually be small black specks on the bottom of the melon when it is ripe also the tendril will be dead. Works for me.
My problem is the armadillos (sp) like to eat them when they get ripe. They will not bust a green one----now how do they know a ripe one from a almost ripe one????

 

[Hammer]

We grew watermelons for the first time this year. We had two that were huge one was 55lbs the other 52lbs. They were good.

 

[Paul Burns]

You could put my biggest three together and they still would not weight much over 55 lbs. Old man like me has to be carefull picking up too much weight ha .

 

[dt-34715]

Just out from the stem there is a small twirly piece of stem that comes out of the main stem. when it turns brown the melon is ready.

 

[Paul Burns]

Well last night the critters hit the watermelons again. Deer or armored possum (arnadillos)sp ; don't know but think the latter. After church tonight I heard three 22 shots and my nest door neighbor called and said he had just shot a armadillo dead. he lives closer to my garden than me. Hope that solved the problem but the melons are all pulled as of this morning.

 

[TX300mag]

Hope that took care of it Mr. Burns!

Are you eating possum on the half-shell today? Otherwise known as "poor man's pork" here in TX. :D