What size diameter in inches will a crimson sweet melon be if ripe at 22Lbs?
Crimson Sweet Watermelon Approx size when ripe in inches
About the size of a basketball, I will leave the measrement up to you.
Thanks Farmerdill. Do you know about how long from flowering to ready to harvest is?
From the set on of a baby melon to harvest is approximately 5 weeks.
Another measure for Crimson Sweet is 30 days after they reach 3 inches in diameter.
I don't go by the size. One year I had a huge watermelon and I thought they would all get that big. Some rotted on the vine, while I was waiting for them to get bigger. I have had really good luck with watermelons. I just check to see that the underside is yellow and the stem starts to turn brown and kind of dry out. I'm hoping this method works for all the types of melons I'm growing this year.
lisa
Thanks ya'll. To tell when it is ready, the stem from vine to melon should be brown and dry, and the belly should be yellow?
I don't wait for the stem to turn brown, but rather the adjacent tendril will first turn yellow and then brown in 3 more days. For most varieties I wait another week after the tendril first gets brown.
Thanks Indy.
Most of the time I can't find the tendrils because the vine is all over the place . I wait for the stem to start to turn brown not all the way brown. I just hate it when I pick them too early. It's not like you can stick them back on so they can ripen more!
Lisa
1lisac, I guess it is kind of like tree pruning, which ever limb you just pruned, is the right one, cause you can't put it back. lol
This message was edited Jul 1, 2009 9:21 AM
when the belly is yellow
If the tendril has been brown for a few days and the belly has no creamy color, I would wait a bit longer on THAT one. Varieties will vary some....some small types just don't yellow up much and a variety like Dixie Lee is ripe quickly and over-ripe quickly around the seeds. Some other varieties that are firm can lay there longer and be quite ok.
I picked another type of melon last night and it wasn't ripe! Trendils were brown, belly was yellow, and stem was starting to turn brown. It tastes OK to me but definately not ripe! ARGH....
Lisa
When picking out a watermelon at the store [besides checking for some creamy bottom] , you want to squeeze them a bit. If they are rock hard, they are likely not ripe enough. If they are too spoungy, they are over-ripe. On larger striped ones be leery of ones that are getting a yellow cast all over.
My little Sugar Baby watermelon is almost ready to harvest. I'm waiting for all the signs to appear at the same time. Maybe we'll have it on 4th of July!!
I planted a whole bunch of sugar babies about 3 years ago. I did not remember what I had planted and kept waiting for them to grow. Finally looked it up and found out what I had planted, and most were too over ripe.
I plant several varieties and they all vine and twine together so I can't trace each fruit back to its vine, so it's important to know what each one is supposed to look like.
With my memory, I better not ever do that.