how do I know when my cantelopes are ready to be picked? I waited, evidently too long, for them to ripen and didn't check it for a day and a half and now my first one is over-ripe and has a really bad spot on it. I kinda thought it should be cream color like I see in the grocery. :(
cantelope
Canteloupes slip (turn loose of the vine ripe). True canteloupes that is, there are some exotic melons that don't. Just pick one up, if the it hangs onto to the vine its not ripe, If the vine drops off it is.
well, i went ahead and cut one from the vine that was quite large. will it ripen inside after i took it from its mother early?
No
crazyjansing, any idea what kind of "cantelope" you are growing? Cantelope? Honeydew? Asian melon?
As mentioned above many will slip free when ripe. Others may not but what I've found to be helpful is if you gently push the area around the "belly button" (the circle where the vine attaches; sorry it's the best description I could come up with!) and it feels a bit soft and gives in a little (flexes) that's a good sign it's ripe. If it feels hard when you push then let it continue to grow/ripen.
Shoe.
ok, i'm blonde, they are the orange kind on the inside. guess i'll let the rest ripen outside on the vine. ill use these as trophies on my counter, when they start smelling, the'll go in the compost pile since they were not ripe when i picked them.