|
| A bit of info I thought some of you may find helpful!
I am asked many times at our farm stand to pick out a ripe melon for them from our pile we harvested.
But the main job in choosing a ripe melon is out in the melon patch. We grow Lantha (a Sugar Baby Hybrid), Charleston Gray, Imagination, and my favorite, Crimson Sweet. All of these melons have a tell tale, pretty much no fail sign in judging if it is ripe or not. Find the stem and follow it to the vine it is attached to. Directly next to the stem, growing on the vine, is a tendril. It looks like a little green pig's tale. If this is completely brown then your melon is ripe. If it is green it definitely isn't ready yet. Good luck everyone! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by fusion_power 7b (My Page) on Mon, Sep 5, 11 at 20:49
| These methods are not 100% reliable and can give you an overripe melon as often as just right with some varieties. One other method and among the most reliable is to feel of the melon and see if it feels lumpy/bumpy when you rub your hand over it. A green melon will never have the lumpy/bumpy feel of a ripe melon. As with all things in life, there are exceptions, Dixielee is a commercially selected melon that does not develop the bumpy surface. DarJones |
|
| Dar, And I found out that the Dixielee is the fastest over-ripening melon out there. You make a good point about the bumpy/ridgy surface of ripe melons. Over-ripe melons tend to be too soft while under-ripe melons are hard and non-faded. |
|
- Posted by bernadette_gourder 5 from Newaygo MI (My Page) on Tue, Sep 6, 11 at 13:50
| For the melon varieties I listed they are all pretty easy to tell when overripe. Knock on them with your knuckles, if it is dull sounding it most likely is overripe. If it has a dead tendril and it has a sharp sound when knocked, it is probably a good one. Again, I am referring to the varieties I've listed. We grew two heirloom watermelon last year which proved to be more difficult to tell when ripe because the tendril method wasn't accurate - it was about a week after it died that it had some good flavor. Otherwise, dead tendril and thumping have been very accurate for us - I say this with "hundreds and hundreds of harvested quality watermelons" worth of experience. :)
|
|
| In a home garden setting I can watch them grow and notice when they cease growing. After they stop growing the tendril will shortly turn yellow and then brown in 4 days. I like to let them further sweeten 7 to 10 days. The Dixielee is one that needs picking earlier, but I have raised dozens of varieties and almost all others keep [hold] well. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Vegetable Gardening Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.