Looks tasty! Mine is all vine last time I looked. Might be a small one hiding in there. Been an odd year for me on most varieties. Seems to be less females when I was hunting for ones to hand pollinate. Really the only ones that are loaded with melons are the various Black Tail Mountains I started at different dates.
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PS… Blacktail Mountain watermelons have too many seeds.
Need to find a good tasting 8-12 lb variety that is seedless or at least less seeds.
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13.6 lb Blacktail Mountain watermelon.
In the fridge after cooling to room temp.
Let’s see if I did better on the amount of ripeness this time.
I’d guess this is a large size for the variety? My 6 some odd other melons on these few vines are currently quite small.
So THAT’S what overripe is. Threw it out after the first bite. Flesh is too dark, rind yellow. It even tasted slightly fermented.
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I’ll have to settle for this little one of unknown variety. Will open later.
3.4 lbs.
Damn… Just opened and tried it. Underripe. Barely any sweetness.
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/me sends Shibumi a fool proof automatic watermelon ripeness tester so he can stop picking them green. Remember that you can feel things your eyes can’t see. Feel of the watermelon for lumpy/bumpy and check for a large ground spot.
1 ripe watermelon is worth 100 green watermelons still in the garden. One problem, I have too many ripe watermelons!
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@Fusion_power
I’ll be waiting for that ripeness kit in the mail! 
Sadly the overripe Blacktail Mountain watermelon I picked yesterday doesn’t really have all that pronounced ground spot. See photo below. To make matters even more confusing, the sun scald spot had the same small color on it.
The light colored melon I posted after that was underripe. Because of its color it’s hard to even tell if there is a ground spot. I have a few more small ones so l play with them.
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The ground spot is going to depend on things other than ripeness. Mine don’t have much of a ground spot if elevated a bit off the ground. To me the ground spot is too dependent on extent of the surface contact. It will be bigger if the ground is soft and there is a large contact area. Smaller or non existent on a hard surface or if elevated.
Aaaahhhhh.
My melons are on gravel. That explains a lot. I screwed myself.
No you didn’t. Rely on the other indicators. I mainly go by the tendril. But that can be a few days too late. I also look at the nearby tendrils. If those start to turn brown and the melon is big and I need fruit, I may harvest. Fusion is the expert. Try his other indicators. Sound doesn’t help me any but I haven’t tried that hard to learn the right tone.
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The tendril drying up in and of itself is subjective too. Often the thickness of the tendril changes drastically along it’s length. I’ve see, say, half the tendril dry completely while the vine side half is still plump and green…
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Yeah @Shibumi, picking ‘em ripe is a bit of a dark art.
After 2 slightly underripe melons, I finally struck gold. Still terrible melon weather here, so ripening rate is a bit of a wildcard and the usual vagaries of weather are far more of a factor this year for when to pick. Hmmm, finally some sun today, rain for the next 4 days. Figured Id probably not squeak many more brix out so might as well pick. Besides, there are 4 more waiting closely in the wings.
My OP ‘Cream of Saskatchewan’ that I saved a number of years ago seems to have crossed with the other varieties I grew that year- ‘Blacktail Mt.’ and ‘Yellow Baby’. The inside is tri-colored. Good flavor. Plenty of sweetness, its not even chilled and tastes delicious. Just shy of 15 lbs. I do have some ‘Cream of Saskatchewan’ that seem true to type.
Looks like some 25 lb. + Leelanau Sweetglow will be ready soon.
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That’s wild that you have different colors in the melon. If it’s good Dave the seed and you can name your own melon.
Cosmopolitan like the tricolored ice cream?
Also looks like you cut it 90 degrees from the stem - flower axis. I’ve never cut a melon that way for some reason.
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Unfortunately, colors can’t be stabilized like in the picture. White, pink, yellow, orange, or red interior are stable colors. In between colors are not.
Well, the Naples folks are out of luck. probably for the best. Everyone always eats the chocolate and leaves the strawberry anyway
yeah, i usually do. I like to eat em with a spoon myself. seeds and all. crunch crunch
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I think this is one to try for me next year. I see Moon and Stars come in yellow and red flesh.
It’s seedless soo I’ll need to plant a seeded varsity too…
Harvest Moon is seedless, Moon and Stars not.
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Yellow Moon & Stars is a superb watermelon. It has seed. You could grow others that are seedless and use yellow M&S as a pollinator.
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It’s still 100 every day but I’m about sick of watermelon. Could use more of the cantaloupe type I have.
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When we have a glut of watermelons, weve taken to cubing it and freezing it. Usually add a little fresh lime and a dab of maple syrup if need be before blending it up. Best daquiri known to man, IMO.
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