Q: I grew watermelons and cantaloupes in my garden for the first time this year. I am so pleased that each vine has a few fruits growing on it! The trouble is that I have no clue how to tell when they are ripe. When do I pick them⢠Is there something I should look forâ¢
A: Devoting time, energy and space to growing melons is worth the effort -- if you can manage to harvest them at the peak of ripeness. Waiting too long gives you nothing but a mealy mess, not waiting long enough might mean throwing an unripe, inedible treasure out to the compost bin. Large-scale melon farmers often will invest in a brix refractometer, a tool used to measure soluble sugar content of the fruits or they harvest them before they are fully ripe in hopes of increasing their shelf life -- an important thought if you are shipping melons to market across the country. Both of these options are a no-go for most home gardeners, but there are some ways to tell which melons are ripe for the picking and which have more sweetening up to do.
For cantaloupes, honeydews and other muskmelons: Types with netted skin will turn yellowish and fall easily off the vine; smooth skinned types will lose their fine, peach-like hairs and feel waxy but will have to be cut from the vine. All melons smell fruity and lush at the blossom end when ripe.
For watermelons: Check the tendril nearest where the fruit connects to the vine. When it starts to shrivel and turn brown the melon is usually ripe. You'll also want to examine the rind where it rests on the soil. If the spot is yellow, the melon is ripe. If it's green or white, it isn't ready to pick.
Even experienced gardeners sometimes miss the harvest pocket for melons due to vacations or other factors. It's also a good idea to examine the "days to maturity" noted on the seed packet at planting. After sowing my melon seeds, I often mark my calendar for a possible harvest date based on this number. I start checking for ripeness a week or so beforehand and return to the garden on a daily basis until I deem them fit for harvest. Oh, and just so you know, I waited too long for my cantaloupes this year and had to feed them to our chickens. A sad day indeed.
