Is it melon time yet ? Depending on which melons you grew and when you planted them , you may already have had your first taste of a yummy homegrown cantaloupe , honeydew melon or watermelon . Or , you may be looking at the crazy vines in your vegetable garden and wondering if your melon vine is ripe yet . Here ’s how to evidence .
Cantaloupe : Color , Smell and a Slight Tug
The first signal that a cantaloupe ( or a sweet melon vine ) is getting ripe is the color under the netting of the fruit changes from green to tan . A ripe cantaloupe also tend to have a pleasant odour . Finally , check the blot at top of the melon where it bind to the vine . On an unripe cantaloupe , the radical end will be unwaveringly attached and smooth at the level where it connects with the melon . As it take riper , the base end may rise off the fruit slightly . When the melon is ripe , the stem will separate easily from the melon . Many times the melon may detach from the vine on its own . That ’s why it ’s authoritative to keep an optic on melon vine that are ripening so they do n’t baby-sit in the garden unpicked too long .
Cal Sweet Bush watermelon is an All-America Selections winner from 2019. Photo courtesy of All-America Selections
Honeydew : A Soft End
Honeydews will not strike off the vine or develop a noticeable pleasant odor , so it ’s a bit laborious to picture out if the melon is advanced . As with cantaloupe , color is your first mansion of ripeness . The melon vine ’s greenish rind will take on a creamy yellowish color . If the colouring material is right , gently push on the remnant of the melon opposite from the stem . If there is a fragile give , the melon vine is likely right . These do n’t arrive off the vine as easily as cantaloup vine , so habituate a knife or scissors grip to ignore the melon vine from the vine .
Watermelon : Check the Belly
watermelon vine may be the trickiest of the three to determine if a melon vine is ripe . First , check the tendril that grows on the opposite side of the stem from the melon . This curly tendril will dry out up as the melon ripens . If it is perfectly wry , the melon vine may be right . A second test is to appear at the “ belly ” of the melon vine - the spot where the melon vine sit on the soil . This arena is ordinarily white because it is not expose to Sunday . However , as the melon vine get ripe , the paunch convert from white to a yellow tone . While you may see mass thumping watermelon in the grocery store , it ’s not a specially honest way to suss out ripeness .
meter
The approximate meter for harvesting your melons is indicated on the seed package , too . That is , the packet will say how many days to harvest . The cantaloupes I ’m growing , for representative , say 60 to 75 days to reap . I know I did n’t get the seeds I started indoors into the garden until mid - June . count forwards , I ’m estimate my harvest time will be sometime in previous August . I can hardly hold off !
Love watermelon vine ? Check out our recipe forSweet and Spicy Watermelon Saladfrom the July / August 2020 issue ofNorthern Gardener . Findmore recipesfor homegrown ingredients on ourResource Hub .
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