Author Topic: Watermelon ripeness  (Read 1881 times)

zands

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Watermelon ripeness
« on: June 02, 2020, 03:34:29 PM »
Not growing but just buying. I saw some very nice seeded in Walmart the other day. All over all you see are seedless but Walmart still gets in seeded for the trad hold outs. When the hold outs die off we will all be eating xxxx

Your vote:
Seeded vs seedless
What do you look for in a supermarket watermelon? I look for a large yellow underbelly.

spaugh

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2020, 03:53:41 PM »
Zands, store fruit seems to be a roll of the dice. 

A few weeks ago they had pristine looking apricots for 2.99$ a pound here.  Which is pretty spendy.  Most stuff is 1-2$ per pound.  They looked so perfect, I took them home and showed the kids.  We tried them and they were pure water.  Brix of 9!

This week we are eating our own homegrown apricots, they dont look as beautiful but they are sweet and full of flavor. 

Moral of the story?  Dont really have one.  Other than store fruit is a gamble.  Yellowish spot is a good sign.  White spot is a no go. 
Brad Spaugh

Jaboticaba45

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2020, 04:10:36 PM »
I like seedless watermelon. I always pat them and see if they have a "deep" sound. Last year I had the chance to try a heirloom seedless watermelon that was over 50 lbs. It wasn't that sweet but very juicy.

SeaWalnut

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2020, 05:36:21 PM »
You have to tap the watermelon and listen for a deep sound wich should indicate its close to cracking.
Here ,sellers actually take a sample with a knife inside the watermelon to see if its ripe but in supermarket its not possible .
We eat manny watermellons here and yellow melons but never seen a seedless watermellon.
In Syria they eat the seeds of the watermellon too.

fruitlovers

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2020, 05:47:05 PM »
I used to grow watermelons for sale in San Diego. Most of the watermelons sold in supermarkets are very low quality, and you have very little choice in types. They either go for seedless or for the ones with tiny seeds, both of which are usually pretty bad!
Best way to test for ripeness is to tap the watermelon. When it is really ripe it will be very tight and full of water, very high density. Kind of like tapping a tight drum versus tapping a drum where the skin is loose. For just one person it's really better to go for the sliced portions, less of a gamble. Best ofcourse is to grow your own! I wouldn't think that in Florida that is very hard to do?
Oscar

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2020, 05:56:44 PM »
Seeded all day, every day! Seedless is convenient but sorely lacking in flavor and of course being able to replant.

The trick I've noted for ripeness isn't the knocking trick because that has resulted in some rancid melons... I rely on the big spot on the melon where it sits. The larger and darker yellow it is the more sweet the melon has been and that was noted consistently!

palmcity

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2020, 09:42:51 PM »
Zands, store fruit seems to be a roll of the dice. 

A few weeks ago they had pristine looking apricots for 2.99$ a pound here.  Which is pretty spendy.  Most stuff is 1-2$ per pound.  They looked so perfect, I took them home and showed the kids.  We tried them and they were pure water.  Brix of 9!

This week we are eating our own homegrown apricots, they dont look as beautiful but they are sweet and full of flavor. 

Moral of the story?  Dont really have one.  Other than store fruit is a gamble.  Yellowish spot is a good sign.  White spot is a no go.
"Moral of the story?"
I like to tell my boys... The prettiest are seldom the sweetest.... 

I actually mentioned it again two days ago to one of my boys... The females wanting some fruit were definitely not sweet... Pretty yes, but not sweet...


 

johnb51

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2020, 04:47:59 PM »
"Moral of the story?"
I like to tell my boys... The prettiest are seldom the sweetest.... 

I actually mentioned it again two days ago to one of my boys... The females wanting some fruit were definitely not sweet... Pretty yes, but not sweet...
Huh?
John

acoff87

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2020, 09:48:34 PM »
Sorry off topic, but I grow Bradford watermelon every year in South Florida, highly recommended. Lots of seed, thick rind, but awesome fruit. I plan to pickle the rind this year. The more room the better, and don't over water when fruit is almost ripe, lose sweetness.

zands

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #9 on: June 03, 2020, 10:10:54 PM »
Thick rinds need to be juiced. I have a  Breville  fast RPM juicer but the green skin gets caught up in the blade

It takes more time but a green power- green star twin auger does it better. It is the Cadillac Escalade of juicers. But these days the ChiComs have single auger juicers. I have not surveyed eBay but at Amazon it looks like 80 dollars or so for a ChiCom single auger. Double auger extracts 10-15% more juice/

Juicing watermelon rinds with some ginger or lime is the best. Right now is the worst time to buy new or used green power on eBay.  After summer is the best as people dump their juicing programs.  I bought a green power-green star used cheap on ebay 5 years  ago. It was a back up. Then lo and behold my trusty older green power pooped out after 10 years. My back up was ready to swing into action.

SeaWalnut

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2020, 07:01:54 PM »
Here we picle the whole watermellon not just the rind but use small mellons .

fruitlovers

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2020, 12:23:15 AM »
Seeded all day, every day! Seedless is convenient but sorely lacking in flavor and of course being able to replant.

The trick I've noted for ripeness isn't the knocking trick because that has resulted in some rancid melons... I rely on the big spot on the melon where it sits. The larger and darker yellow it is the more sweet the melon has been and that was noted consistently!
I notice the seedless types don't just lack in flavor, but also the texture is not as good.
I think yellow spot method might work on some types but not all types of watermelons for predicting maturity.
Oscar

pineislander

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2020, 06:25:02 AM »
Seedless watermelon takes special techniques the seed is expensive and somewhat weak so they baby the transplants. You have to plant a percentage of specialized pollinators for them usually those make no fruit or poor quality fruits.

A lot of the quality problems with commercially produced watermelons is the indicriminate picking where pickers snatch and grab everything in the field for sale no regard for whether or not they are ripe. Usually the late harvests have a better chance of geetting a good one and a lot cheaper. There are serious viral diseases of watermelon, most growers absolutely will not plant melons on land which has had them planted within 5-7 years so in the home garden that will be a limitation.
Those are some things I learned from the pros.

FRUITBOXHERO

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Re: Watermelon ripeness
« Reply #13 on: June 08, 2020, 03:30:09 PM »
You can also look at the field marks, the yellower or darker usually the riper the melon
Joe