If picked too soon, they will not ripen off the vine. If picked too late, they turn to mush. The window in which a watermelon goes from ripe to ruined is apparently quite small.
Some, like watermelon, do not continue to ripen once harvested. Therefore, flavor will not improve nor will they become sweeter—t is what it is at harvest. However, cantaloupe and similar fruit will continue to ripen after harvest.
Depending on the variety, watermelons can take 65 to 90 days from sowing to produce ripe fruit. Most take about 32 days after blooming for the fruit to reach its peak.
The most important thing to look for when you're trying to tell when your watermelon is ripe is to look at the tendril right next to the stem. When the watermelon is ripe, the tendril will either be fully brown, or at least starting to turn brown. It shouldn't be nice and green.
Check its color—you want it to be a golden yellow. If it is that bright yellow color—your watermelon is ready to harvest! If it is any other color, like pale yellow, white, or green, it needs a bit more time on the vine. Give it a knock: A good way to know when a watermelon is ripe is by listening for a hollow sound.
Watermelons don't slip right off the vine, as some other melons do, but the end of the vine near the melon may start to appear cracked or brownish as it ripens.
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.
Hot weather (temperatures in the 90s) can also lead to fruit disorders. In general, watermelons tolerate high temperatures; however, some varieties are less tolerant of extended hot weather, leading to irregular ripening. Long season varieties often take longer to ripen, even when outwardly they appear to be mature.
What color watermelon is the sweetest? Darker-colored watermelons are generally sweeter because they were allowed to ripen on the vine longer.
A fully ripe watermelon with brown tendril will keep on the vine up to two weeks as long as no heavy rainfall occurs, which causes ripe melons to split open (like tomatoes).
Leave one or two fruits on the vine if you want the largest melons or up to 4 for healthy, average-sized watermelon fruit. Because watermelons are prone to diseases and parasites, don't cut the vines when they are wet.
"In general, melons will not change significantly once they're harvested from the vine," Green explains. She says that cantaloupes, honeydew, and watermelon are all non-climacteric fruits, which means that once they're harvested, they won't continue to become tastier or sweeter like peaches or bananas will.
The ideal, perfectly ripe watermelon should be dark green in colour and dull looking. If it's shiny, it's not ripe yet. Another important thing to look for the field spot. This will be a yellow splotch on the underside of a watermelon.
The best time to plant watermelon
If you live in the Australia's temperate zone, seeds need to be sown sometime between October and December when daily temperatures average around 20-25 °C.
Splitting is caused by an erratic watering pattern, particularly the excessive accumulation of water. The inside of the fruit is under great pressure and the fruit splits open when lightly tapped. The condition is weather related and there probably is a cultivar interaction as well.
More often than not, watermelon blossom end rot occurs when water levels are fluctuating during fruit initiation. A steady supply of water is required to move calcium to these young fruits, but too much isn't good, either – good drainage is necessary for healthy roots.
Like any fruit, it will last well if you leave it on the vine, but that doesn't mean you should leave it forever. The plant will cut off water and nutrient supply to the fruit after it's ripe, and the fruit will start to lose its flavor and sweetness, and it will eventually start to decay in the heat.
You want to find the melon that is heavy for its size. This usually means it will be sweeter and will have more water content. Look for an orange creamy field spot. The darker yellow field spot usually means it was on the vine longer and is full of flavor.
If it is ripe, the color should be a creamy, almost butter-like yellow. The bigger the yellow belly and the creamier the color means the more time the melon spent ripening on the vine. However, if the spot is smaller or looks more white than yellow, then the melon may not be as ripe.
In addition to having a delicious taste, Yellow Doll is perfect for home and pot-growing because it's compact and weighs five to seven pounds. It's also one of the fastest-maturing watermelons on the market, reaching maturity in as few as seventy days.