When to Harvest (and Eat!) Watermelon
Every year, I face the same dilemma: how to tell if a watermelon is ripe. Muskmelons are easy鈥攖hey will slip right off the vine at the peak of perfection. However, watermelons remain firmly attached even when they are overripe.
I am no good at the 鈥渢hump鈥 test. Old-timers swear they know when a watermelon is ripe just by rapping it with a knuckle. It is ready if the sound is low-pitched, hollow, and deep like a drum. Johnny鈥檚 Seed Company explains further, saying that it should sound like a 鈥減unk鈥 rather than a 鈥減ink鈥 or a 鈥減ank鈥 when you flick it with your finger. I have failed miserably at this test in years past, picking unripe melons that are still white inside. Once they are detached from the vine, watermelons won鈥檛 continue to ripen. You only get one chance to do this right!
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When all else fails, I guess I should look at the seed packet. It says that my Sugar Babies should be ripe in 80 days from planting, and though we started the seeds indoors in early May, they did not get planted in the garden until early June. I think they should be ready any day now, but since they do most of their ripening in the last 2 weeks of growth, it is important not to jump the gun.
Tricks to Tell if a Watermelon is Ripe
Here are other subtle cues to look out for:
- The green color becomes dull.
- On striped melons, the color between the stripes gets darker.
- The rind will get hard.
- The blossom end will soften.
- They will stop getting larger.
- The ground spot will turn from white to yellow.
- The end of the main vine nearest the fruit may start to crack or turn brown.
- The curly tendril on the main vine, closest to the fruit, will turn brown.
Do you have any tried and true method of determining the ripeness of a watermelon that you鈥檇 like to share?
See more about harvesting watermelons in the 蜜桃恋人鈥檚 Watermelon Growing Guide.
How do YOU tell that your watermelon is ripe? Do you have any sure-fire tips? We want to hear all about them!
Robin Sweetser
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I'm confused on mine all my tendrils are brown and dried up my Vines are starting to die off but the bellies of my watermelons are still White and they're huge watermelons so I haven't picked them because they're still White any advice ?
If you put one hand on one side of the melon and with your other hand open, tap the melon soundly. If you can feel the percussion with you other hand, it is ripe. If the sound stops and you can't feel it, it is too ripe and wet in the middle. It should "thump" NOT "thud".
I have not heard this about the percussion> I will try that this year too. I have never been able to get it right either. If I would have picked my rogue crimson when the tendril was dead it surely would have been white inside. Cuz I looked at the packet and it says 85-90 days, and there was a a whole month left to even get to 80 days. So, this year I am trying to just mark it my calendar and go from there. Thumping never works for me, the tendril thing always seems too early for me, and I don't get a yellow spot because I place them on the plastic trays because I've noticed some bugs trying to burrow into the rind when on the ground. Last year was so wet here in GA they got a virus, and all died before they were ripe. I only have 2 watermelon that are looking decent. everything else had died off. It hasn't been easy for them. I don't know what I need to do. More room probably, but I really don't have any to spare to just let the vines roam. so It is what it is, I suppose. Good luck everyone.
I grow sugar babies inside hydroponically using just a bucket of nutrients and no aeration. I found that waiting until the tendril was fully dried out and the ground spot bright yellow, they were a bit overripe. But if I picked them when the tendril was dry but not fully dry, they are perfect. I started rotating them around to expose all sides to the lights, so no more ground spot to try to judge ripeness anymore.
I grow the Sugar Baby and the Crimson Sweet. The Sugar Babies do turn yellow on the bottom where it contacts the soil, as do the Crimsons. I also notice the vines starting to brown and curl as well indicating that they are ready to be picked. I have 5 in total this year. 3 of the Sugar Babies and 2 of the Crimsons. I live in the South Okanagan Canada. I planted each seedling (just 1 plant of each type) at the beginning of May directly into the soil of a raised garden bed that is attached to the house so lots of warm soil which is the secret to growing large healthy melons!
I've been watching a watermelon in my garden ripen, but over the past week it stopped growing. It looks big and ready, but the bottom has not turned white or yellow. Any other way to tell if it's ready?
when you can lay two fingers between the green stripes it is ripe.
I grew my first garden this year at age 58. It was a small space so I only had enough room left for 1 melon. I did my research. I found when the main vine starts browning, it's time to cut. Next year I will add more compost because they were smaller than most Sugar Babies but they were sssooo sweet!
I'm growing some moon and stars watermelon.
The tendril was dried up. The field spot was cream colored. The outside was dull green.
The inside was snow white but was very sweet.
