Knowing When Watermelons Are Ready to Be Picked

You can get watermelon seeds from SeedsNow (domestic US shipping) if you shop online.

To what extent can you predict when your homegrown watermelon will be ready for harvest?

A few common pieces of advice are to knock on the rind and look for color changes. How, though, does this aid anything? Although these deeds can be illuminating, they do not reveal everything.

When taken as a whole, the following suggestions will point you in the right direction.

However, in the end, the only way to know for sure that a watermelon is ready to eat is to put it to the test.

Take into account that there is no going back once the fruit has been picked from the vine. No further ripening or sugar development is possible at this point.

The best course of action is for you to read the advice given, and then, if you feel ready, select one fruit and try it. Is it ready and delicious? And/or requires additional time Perhaps it's ripe beyond its prime.

Growing your first watermelon, or any food crop, can be intimidating, but with practice, you'll get the hang of knowing when to harvest.

Keep track of when you planted seeds, when they sprouted, and what day of the week you picked your fruit. A year from now, you'll find this data extremely helpful.

Contents

Here Are Four Indications That Your Watermelon Is Almost Ripe

I cannot stress this point enough; it is crucial. You can't force a fruit to ripen any faster than it naturally would.

The recommended amount of light, as well as the amount of time from planting to harvesting, is listed on seed packets.

Growers who are experts in their craft are aware of this fact because they have intimate knowledge of the seeds and environments in which they thrive.

Find out how many days it will take for your watermelon to mature if you know what kind you're growing.

This could be anywhere from sixty to one hundred and ten days, depending on the variety.

• Since when have you been cultivating it?
• When it came to sun and water, did it have an abundant growing season?

Mature fruits, like watermelons, are the only ones that can start ripening.

Look at the clock and see if it's time.

Ring, ring It's a common piece of advice, but novices may find it challenging to implement.

Check out the watermelon's echo by rapping your knuckles on it.

A hollow sound can be heard when a watermelon is fully ripe.

A thud can be made by under- or over-ripe watermelons.

Without a large sample size, it's hard to imagine becoming an expert at this.

We anticipate variation according to size and type.

However, many claim to be able to detect the sound of a ripe watermelon from far away, so go ahead and try it!

If you're shopping for watermelons at the supermarket or farmer's market, you can use this same trick! Again, it may indicate ripeness, but it won't tell you whether or not the fruit is tasty.

As a side note, I use this makeshift obelisk to support my watermelon plants.

The field spot, or the bottom of the fruit as it grows, can become yellow as the fruit reaches maturity, though there are always exceptions in gardening.

Not done if the color is white.

This is not a rule that applies to all watermelons, but rather another piece of evidence to consider.

It's another indicator of ripeness, but only if you know your watermelon has had time to mature.

Look at the stem's connection to the top of the melon, where a curly tendril emerges.

Watermelon isn't ripe yet if it's still green.

Melon is ripe when its skin begins to dry and turn brown.

This is something to keep in mind in addition to the other suggestions.

It's almost the end of the growing season, so why not pick that watermelon, slice it open, and enjoy a bite?

Other Tips

These additional suggestions are the ones that some gardeners swear by, but they don't seem to work for everyone, or their usefulness comes with experience.

A ripe watermelon might smell like sweet watermelon. Overripeness can cause a rancid taste or smell.

Hardness | A watermelon that hasn't ripened is going to be very firm. Water content increases as fruit ripens, making the fruit heavier and potentially more yielding. At some point after becoming overripe, the rind will begin to rot and turn into mush.

Watermelons can only be checked for ripeness once they have been cut open.

Different symptoms include:

• The duration of time the fruit has been developing in its current form. Has it had enough sun and water (as instructed on the seed packet)?
• A knock on the fruit with your knuckles produces a distinctive sound. Indications of success include a lack of hollowness.
• The blemish is yellow, not white. Here we have the watermelon's bottom half.
• A brown, dry tendril or tendrils near the fruit's juncture with the stem.

Let us now eat I'm hoping it's tasty.

~Melissa she who rules over filth as if she were a queen