Watermelons...when to pick??

[di17090]

My DD wanted to try growing watermelons this year. All I can say is WOW. You wouldn't believe the plants and the melons we have on.

How do I know when to pick? Someone said the attached stem will start to wither. We have one that's so big I don't know that I'll be able to lift it up from where it is (real close to the house). And it's still going strong.

Planted two plants, and right now we have over 21 good size melons and about 15 that are at least 7 inches.

Good thing we like watermelon.

 

[chessie]

Wow!! It sounds like you have a wonderful harvest coming. I would love to be your neighbor. Tell us your secret? What type did you plant and did you do anything special to them? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[di17090]

I'm not sure of the name. I'll try to remember to check the tag tonight that I kept when planting them.

I planted them along the side of my house, in an old flower bed. The area has been mulched for many years. After we planted them, we mulched all around them. They get shade in the morning and sun in the afternoon. I watered them every day and fertilized with Miracle Grow once a week for at least the first two months.

From what I've been told, we've had the perfect year for melons, cucumbers, etc. Pennsylvania has had loads of rainy, humid weather, which I'm told melons thrive on.

The only problem we've had...I didn't allow for the vining of these two plants. They have totally taken over the back cement deck we have. The plants vined around the wheelbarrow my husband used one weekend and didn't put away. There's no way we can move it now. There are two melons actually growing around it. They've vined around the patio table and chairs. It's unreal. My nephew said it looked like a good science fiction movie...The Vine People. What a laugh that was.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd have any luck with these at all. I didn't exagerate my numbers. We literally have that many. Now we just have to figure out when they're ready to pick.

Hopefully they'll taste as good as they look.

 

[Snowwark]

Originally posted by di17090
[BThe only problem we've had...I didn't allow for the vining of these two plants. They have totally taken over the back cement deck we have. The plants vined around the wheelbarrow my husband used one weekend and didn't put away. There's no way we can move it now. There are two melons actually growing around it. They've vined around the patio table and chairs. It's unreal. My nephew said it looked like a good science fiction movie...The Vine People. What a laugh that was.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd have any luck with these at all. I didn't exagerate my numbers. We literally have that many. Now we just have to figure out when they're ready to pick.

Hopefully they'll taste as good as they look. [/B]

Welcome di17090! The Vine People....LOL...I love it!!

What an awesome harvest!!! You must have a very green thumb!

From what I've read, a watermelon is generally ready to pick when:

~the tendril near the stem will dry up and turn brown

~the ground spot on the bottom of the melon will turn from white to a more cream colour

~the melon should be very heavy for it's size (92% water)

Some people use the thumping method (over-ripe melon have a dead thumping sound), but different varieties can have different "sounds", so I'm not sure how that works.

I hope this is of some help to you!

Enjoy your yummy watermelons!

Kim

 

[bobbiwoz]

What a happy state of affairs you have!

It's hard to decide when to pick a watermelon. I bought one from the local farmer's stand and it wasn't ripe yet, not at all. I did bring it back to show them and the woman was very apologetic and picked me another one from the same table, and it was perfect. If a farmer could make a mistake, so may you. At least you have lots left in case you do pick one before it's prime.

Bobbi

 

[marydmjj]

di17090: can you post a picture of your watermelon patch? I'm sure we would all love to see that.

 

[di17090]

but I don't have a digital camera. I'm not very "literate" when it comes to anything with a computer. Sorry that I can't share. We had friends stop in over the weekend. They wanted to know what we were going to do when we couldn't get our back door open (which we use as our main entrance). I told them the front door would start getting used!!

This must be the year for melons/pumpkins. I visited my mother last night and she is having a goose neck pumpkin take over in her garden. She's going to have enough pumpkins to keep us in pies for over a year...yummy

 

[Snowwark]

Soon you won't be able to get out the backdoor???? Wow!!! lol....

Yummy...I love pumpkin pie! I pretty much like most pies, actually!

 

[DebºoºS]

SLOL,
Sounds like you've found the perfect spot to grow melons. That is if you can relocate your door.

I usually wait for the melon to sort of fade off the vine. The melon color and veining gives me a clue too. Not very scientific and sometimes it doesn't work.
I've picked some melons this year that were awful mealy and throw away icky. Others were mmm good. It's always better to pick early and let it sit on the counter to ripen. Of course in your case just open the door and it'll move in

I wish you could post a pic they sound wonderful.