I used to grow watermelons commercially. I found that each variety has different 'signals' as to when it's ripe. The most common was the yellow belly. Some had the first small leaf on the vine closest to the attachment point dry up as an indicator. Others it was the curly tendril that dried up.
I most often used the sound when the melon was thumped to guide me. It's all in the tone and is very hard to teach to others. I tried with my brightest worker, but he never got the knack of it. When he picked the watermelons, I got complaints. So I went back to thumping and marking the ones to pull. Interestingly Desert King, a yellow meated melon, would have a tone all its own. Much lower and more dull than other melons. You had to learn the variety's own code.
Cantaloupes were easier for the workers to pick. The outside would lose its green cast and with very gentle pressure the melon would detach from the vine - called 'full slip'. What you see in the super markets these days are cantaloupes with a piece of the vine still attached. Don't even bother. They taste like cardboard. As a backup, smell the vine end of the melon. It will smell like cantaloupe.
Honeydew melons will be soft on the blossom end when pushed. The softer, the more ripe until it's overripe. Yellow skinned honeydews are easier to pick. They don't turn yellow until they are close to ripe.
I used to grow watermelons commercially. I found that each variety has different 'signals' as to when it's ripe. The most common was the yellow belly. Some had the first small leaf on the vine closest to the attachment point dry up as an indicator. Others it was the curly tendril that dried up.
I most often used the sound when the melon was thumped to guide me. It's all in the tone and is very hard to teach to others. I tried with my brightest worker, but he never got the knack of it. When he picked the watermelons, I got complaints. So I went back to thumping and marking the ones to pull. Interestingly Desert King, a yellow meated melon, would have a tone all its own. Much lower and more dull than other melons. You had to learn the variety's own code.
Cantaloupes were easier for the workers to pick. The outside would lose its green cast and with very gentle pressure the melon would detach from the vine - called 'full slip'. What you see in the super markets these days are cantaloupes with a piece of the vine still attached. Don't even bother. They taste like cardboard. As a backup, smell the vine end of the melon. It will smell like cantaloupe.
Honeydew melons will be soft on the blossom end when pushed. The softer, the more ripe until it's overripe. Yellow skinned honeydews are easier to pick. They don't turn yellow until they are close to ripe.