Harvesting Watermelons – When is a Watermelon Ready to Pick?

How do you know when your watermelon is ready? There are lots of tips that will help you with harvesting watermelons.

Just remember that patience is a virtue with this summer favorite.Home grown watermelons are one of the real sweet treat pleasures of summer. 

Vegetable gardening is a love of mine and watermelons are one of my favorites, so I have been trying to get some to grow in my garden.

Did you know that there are many watermelon varieties, you may not have heard of?

If you like the taste of fresh watermelons, you’ll love my new recipe – raspberry watermelon lemonade. It is a hydrating drink that the whole family will enjoy.

Watermelons are not the only popular melons to grow in a home garden. Cantaloupes and honeydew melons are great too.  See my tips for growing these melons here.

Did you know that watermelon is thought of as both a fruit and a vegetable?  It is considered a fruit because it grows from seed, and has a sweet flavor.

But it is considered a vegetable because it is harvested and eaten like other vegetables and is a member of the same family as squash, pumpkins and cucumbers.

Fun Fact: There is an indoor tropical plant that has foliage like a watermelon rind. It is called watermelon peperomia.

Tips for Harvesting Watermelons.

My watermelon patch that is spreading like crazy.  It seems to grow a few feet every day. 

The darn thing was sprawling all over my garden with not a watermelon in sight until a little while ago when it started producing in large numbers.  Finally…it’s time to harvest them!

But wait.  Like pumpkins, they look ripe and they are heavy, but it’s hard to know when to harvest them. I get only one chance to do this right.  What do I need to be aware of when it’s time for harvesting watermelons?

The trick is to make sure that they are neither too ripe, or not ripe enough, but how do we know?

Check your seed package.

Seed packages are a wealth of information. They tell you when to plant the seeds, how far away to space them, and how long they take to grow.

The time to harvest can vary slightly but most watermelons will be ready to harvest 80 to 120 days after the seeds have been planted, depending on variety.

Don't know when a watermelon is ready for harvest?  Check out my tips.  #growingveggies #I♥watermelons 🍉 Click To Tweet

Check the tendrils.

Those curly green things growing on the ends of your melon will first turn yellow and then change to a brown color. 

When this happens, it means the plant is no longer feeding the watermelon and the time for picking one is getting close. If your tendril looks nearly dead, the melon is definitely ripe, and could even be over-ripe.

Pick these ones for sure.

Look for a crack at the stem

Sometimes the stem of the watermelon will split on the stem itself just above the top of the melon. 

If there is a small crack at this point, it indicates that the fruit should be ripe and ready to harvest. Note:  you don’t want the watermelon itself to crack. That is a whole separate issue.

Press the Watermelon

Try pressing on the watermelon. If you find that it gives a little, it means that it is ripe. 

Don’t press too hard, though, or you will bruise the fruit and this could ruin the quality and taste of the melon.

The Color of the belly will change

Watermelons sit on the ground as they mature and their bellies change color. As the plant gets closer to the time for harvesting, the underside will turn from green to white or yellow color (depends on the variety). 

Also, look at the surface of the the melon. It will start to take on a dull color.

Another thing to check for is the color between the stripes, if the melon grows with them. There should be some contrast between the stripes. 

Check the size.

Many seed packages will tell you what to expect for size from the melons that grown. Check the expected size and if it’s close, all things being equal, it should be near to ripe time.

The watermelon on the right is more likely to be ripe than the smaller one on the left since it is closer to the size that is expected from the plant.

Do the Thump Test

I have to admit.  I’m not the best at this trick.  It appears my gardening ears don’t differentiate between thump and “don’t pick me now, I’m not ripe.”

But for those of you with better hearing than mine, the theory is that if you pick up a watermelon and thump it with your hand, it will make a hollow sound indicating when it is ripe.

My experience with the Thump Test

Apparently the “thump” test is difficult for less-gifted ears.  One cut into this melon proved to me that there must be another test that will be more accurate than listening for a hollow sound, since this is what awaited me.  

Dang it all, not even the seeds were ripe enough to save. However, I was impatient with my test and tried it long before the package told me that it might be ready.

That really is the best test of all and you need patience to see it through!

Something tells me that the 80 -120 day rule might have been a good one to follow. It is a very good thing that I had nine more melons out there waiting for me.

Follow the tips above and watch for the signs. Try to make sure that you’ve waited the number of days that your package tells you to, and check to see if your fruit shows the signs that it’s ready to harvest. 

If you do, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying fresh watermelon on your summer picnic table.

What tips do you have for harvesting watermelons?  Let me know in the comments below.

Admin Note: This post first appeared on the blog in August of 2014. I have updated the information, and added new photos to give a better idea of harvesting watermelons.

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