5 Tips to Help You Harvest A Ripe Watermelon From Your Garden EVERY TIME

Figuring out when to pick a watermelon can be tricky, so In this video I will be sharing tips to help you pick a ripe watermelon from you garden every time. Thanks for watching. Please like and subscribe for more gardening videos!

[@sarah_farm]

Just realise how long i have been followed you. Watching Ahao grow up, Dawang be fatten up and your baking skill level up over years has been one of my great joys.

[@randolphsloan2263]

Wow thanks so much. That was delicious!!

[@meinita1522]

Thanks so much for the tip, very helpful 👍

[@katianatrejo7666]

Cheers! And congratulations! I will follow the 5 tips to the letter" tks

[@50shadesofgreen]

Wow that fantastic advice and information on watermelons !? Omg that looks delicious !! All all Hale the Queen of watermelons !! Thanks for sharing

[@Caseylawton]

Thanks for the tip on it being light green and not having a yellow spot!

[@khorasan_girl363]

What a good crop you got, very colorful watermelon 👌👌

[@Boz1211111]

Thanks, really helped me out

[@BobMelsimpleliving.]

Great tips. Thanks. Best wishes Bob.

[@hischild3759]

Gorgeous watermelon!

[@UriValdez]

Gorgeous watermelon

[@ltlbnsgarden]

Great tips! That watermelon looked very sweet and juicy 😊

[@jt007nevertriedwillneverkn5]

Wow...very inspiring

[@Sheenasalesthriftytreasures]

Amazing thank you

[@thatasmrgirl9697]

thank you that helped me for my watermelon

[@neverenoughdirt]

Good picking advice. That is a great looking watermelon. I am noticing on social media that it is a popular one. And what a great way to enjoy your harvest-- with your son.

[@ChristasGarden]

Thanks. He is always around when it's time to cut a watermelon. If it were anything else he would be too busy, lol. It is good....but Klondike is better, in my opinion anyhow. :)

[@annaraime3288]

Can't wait till I harvest my FIRST 🍉 Because of you- I have decided to grow watermelon for the first time. Looking forward to a great harvest. Thanks for all your videos. 🍉 🌸🍉

[@ChristasGarden]

You're welcome and I appreciate you telling me! I hope you get some good ones.

[@lucasgrowsbestyt]

Thanks Christa. Now I'll know when to pick the watermelons I will be growing next summer!

[@ChristasGarden]

Good luck! Watermelons like heat and black plastic or landscape fabric really helps to warm the soil. If I were you , I would try to look for varieties that were bred specifically for northern climates.

[@ImRicWooo]

Christa's Garden I appreciate you saying these tips are not 100%. I can tell you the only sure fire 100% way to tell if the melon is ripe. As you stated the first sign before even checking is the humps and lumps. If you do nothing else do not even attempt to pick until the melon is lumpy. Now to get peak ripeness once it reaches that point grasp the vine with your index finger where it connects to the melon and pull snugly. If the melon is ripe the vine will snap off. This is the only way to tell if the melon is ripe. No tendril, not yellow spots. The vine will snap off. Never ever cut a watermelon off the vine. If this is needed then the melon isnt ripe.

[@healthyfacts1012]

Thanks for the video

[@mahersala7751]

It's great for me to have a great friend like you my friend

[@MsLallie]

Thanks for the tips! I'm growing watermelon and actually have watermelon fruit getting close to ripeness for the first time ever!

[@ajty2630]

Me too!

[@daniellesnyder1244]

Thank you, by far the most helpful video I have watched! Just picked two watermelons this week from my garden and they weren’t ready yet. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Pigearvet]

I am in the process of harvesting.. I have a few more days for the first one. Excellent video Christa.. Thank You for your help Rob

[@ChristasGarden]

You're welcome. Enjoy your watermelons.

[@dkulikowski]

Looks delicious. I wish I could grow those beauties. I am trying the 'sugar baby'. BUT it is in an area that has stayed wet all season long. There are just two melons right now and they are little, baseball size. :0( GREAT VIDEO and tips.

[@sallahuddin123]

thank you

[@anneakinyi4916]

OMG......how sweeeeeet

[@najmahabibty7123]

Craving for watermelon🍉.

[@thegardeningaddictchannel4112]

Bowing to the Queen of watermelons.....>>> Christa,that watermelon looked Terrific!!! I guess I will have to use these tips "again" for next year. This hasn't been a good year for me this year with watermelons. I don't think I will be getting any this year. I have a few on the vine but they don't look as well as they did last year. T

[@ChristasGarden]

Awww, I am sorry! I wish every year could be a perfect gardening year. :)

[@thegardeningaddictchannel4112]

LOL I have never heard of a perfect gardening year, and I've never seen it either... ;-)

[@miwanabanana]

Counting the DTM is so obvious, yet I didn't consider to do so till watching your video (doh). I bought a plant from Home Depot, Bonnie's to be precise, and it looks like I got more than one type in the same pot. The label says ice box sugar baby and there seems to have been 3 seedlings in one pot, yet I'm seeing different looking watermelons. One vine is producing big dark-green stripeless watermelons and the other two are producing cutest little personal sized striped watermelons. Moral of the story: start your own seeds (if not, be prepared for surprises esp buying Bonnie's) and write down when you stuck them in the ground.

[@gilmarbiazon3273]

Essas melancias de cores verde claro ou quase branca . São as melhores frutas do mercado, por ter uma poupa firme e um sabor inigualavel !!

[@bayleemestaz1469]

What variety of watermelon is this 😍

[@munishgowda7840]

It tastes like watermelon 😂.

[@ChristasGarden]

Ha Ha! I thought that was pretty funny too. I think you are the first person to mention it in the comments.

[@munishgowda7840]

@@ChristasGarden I too expected that, someone would have mentioned it already.

[@gmcgee13gmj]

I’m late and it’s funny cause it’s true! The first time I ate a blueberry that I grew it tasted so good and different from what I was used to! The first thing I said was “wow this tastes like a blueberry!” Even though I’ve had MANY before.

[@lenapas9480]

Christa's Garden make sense to say that when one we buy in the supermarket teste nothing like watermelon 🍉

[@holyvessel34]

Best part of the video..."it looks like steak".

[@whatDflip]

lmaoooooooo

[@emmalikesflowers]

Agreed. It does look like steak😂

[@bigal25938]

Cutting into a ripe watermelon is like magic.

[@huseyinpektas5276]

Mükemmel

[@ChristasGarden]

Thank you!

[@mbdiver3]

Is that a Charleston Grey? I have several growing right now. Theyre not getting any bigger, but the tendrils are still green. My grandfather used to grow acres of these, but unfortunately we can never find any for sale these days. BEST watermelon ever.

[@ChristasGarden]

The variety in the video is Ali baba but it looks a lot like Charleston Grey. I have grown both and had the best luck with Ali Baba. Charleston Grey is a fine watermelon though.

[@davidronson8712]

Congratulations for washing the watermelon before cutting it.

[@eastexasupdates2559]

👍👍

[@jenniferfreeman1752]

When I pick one with the tendril is dead for over a week it's not ready yet.

[@fuzzyfuster]

holding back the water before picking can help develop flavor as well.......

[@ChristasGarden]

I have heard that as well....but I don't usually need to water my melons very often. I am lucky to get enough rain.

[@C3Voyage]

So, your DTM count is when you put an actual plant in the dirt? For example, I often start melons in flats until they two true leaves then stick in the dirt. Most of the time, I just pop a seed in the ground so I'll assume once it pops through the soil, start the DTM? I'm asking because I've attempted to look up DTM rationale and it differs from source to source. Anyway, the watermelon looks so good! :O)

[@ChristasGarden]

I start my dtm count when I put the plants in the ground (they start out as seedlings in my house, usually 3-4 weeks before I plant them out). I write down the date that I planted them in the ground and use it as a guideline. With most vegis, I don't even think about dtm but because watermelons can be tricky to pick at the right time, I always keep it in mind. The tendril on this particular watermelon has been dead for two weeks! I checked my dtm and decided not to pick it then. According to estimated dtm, it was two weeks from being ready at the time. Glad I waited until today to pick it because it was perfect! This has worked really well for me the past few years. One more thing to think about is that average dtm only applies to growing conditions that are good (adequate sunlight, warmth, water, etc). It would be interesting to see what the difference would be if they were started directly in the ground.

[@ChristasGarden]

Now that I am thinking about this, it is the same way with tomatoes, at least where I live. I start them in my house in mid March. Plant them outside, in the ground sometime in early May and then start getting ripe tomatoes in mid/late July. Most of the varieties I grow are supposed to be 80-90 dtm so they are starting to ripen up at the estimated average dtm if we are only considering the date they are planted in the ground.

[@C3Voyage]

Appreciate the tips. I can't manage to get a watermelon at it's prime. Had heard that some darks get "dull". Might be an easier way for me.

[@ChristasGarden]

If you ever do get one to maturity, keep growing that kind. Eventually you will start recognizing signs of ripeness for that particular variety. They each get their own look once they get to maturity and you will start to recognize it. Good luck. The dead tendril is probably the easiest indicator of ripeness, back before I was experienced at growing watermelons, I only used the dead tendril as an indicator and it worked 75% of the time.

[@Boz1211111]

Thanks a lot for the tips. Picked today in friends garden and tendrils were dry for some time and melons were barely pink. Considering DTM it fits perfect with my flowering, pollinated my first one today hah

[@lcoleman9656]

What variety was the melon you showed?

[@ChristasGarden]

Ali Baba

[@putheflamesou]

should you rotate mellon so it does not get a white spot?

[@ChristasGarden]

No a spot on the bottom is perfectly fine and doesn't hurt the fruit.

[@JAFFE15809]

No.. you want that spot on it.

[@ChristasGarden]

It doesn't matter if it has a spot either way but I wouldn't want to risk twisting the vine and maybe breaking off the watermelon.

[@hilalidokkali9275]

Jai besoin des grains

[@mahersala7751]

What is the name of this variety of watermelon please?

[@ChristasGarden]

Ali Baba

[@ajty2630]

That baby wanted steak🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@chiefmillz3048]

What type of watermelon is that

[@ChristasGarden]

Ali Baba

[@chiefmillz3048]

Christa's Garden thank you for the fast response very beautiful watermelon very good info I will be growing this type next year

[@ChristasGarden]

You're welcome. For me this is one of the easiest to grow! Good luck.

[@baliw33]

Charleston Gray!

[@shawnmcclean1980]

I tell when the melon is ripe by d dry stem

[@mahersala7751]

Dear friend Charista's the name this watermelon is it Ali baba ...? Please what is the name of this variety of watermelon please

[@ChristasGarden]

Yes it is Ali Baba. It is a very reliable variety in my garden.

[@mahersala7751]

@@ChristasGarden please dear sister can you send a feu seeds of this variety of watermelon : Ali Baba Dear i can send you money

[@Lily-Gardens28]

What is the name of this watermelon???

[@ChristasGarden]

Ali Baba

[@vipinkiwarrenburg3477]

Why have 36 people give a thumbs down? Karen’s!

[@charleshornick1582]

The dislikes are the people are who accidentally pressed the wrong button.

[@seanleith5312]

To some people, thumb down means good.

[@costinelstaicut6911]

What hind is this?

[@ChristasGarden]

Ali Baba

[@moviemakerwannabe]

Charleston Grey?

[@ChristasGarden]

It's actually Ali Baba but it does look just like the pictures of Charleston Grey that I have seen.

[@marcusramirez2100]

They’re ripe but they aren’t striped.🙂

[@HandyTim]

The cracks in the watermelon shows that it is overripe. An over ripened watermelon can cause food poisening or make some people sick

[@ChristasGarden]

Lol! I don't know where you heard that but it isn't true. Cracks in the flesh does not mean that the watermelon is overripe and it isn't going to give you food poisoning.

[@HandyTim]

It was on KZbin somewhere

[@billmcneil1308]

Usually an over ripe melon will be spongey in the middle

[@adytexas]

You'll never know the DTM if you plant a seed from a good watermelon that you had.

[@deborahanderson1872]

J

[@maherleprofdefrancais9577]

Who can send me Ali baba seeds of watermelon.....?

[@gasousman]

It's all good until they started lacing all the melons with fructose injections. Now all the melons are disgustingly sweet.

[@greenwfa1983bk]

Kids will be kids lol Taste like watermelon

[@geoffmcclean6035]

That could not be 31 Lbs 10 oz, no way

[@bigpump2620]

If you live in the north dont go by this......

[@ChristasGarden]

I live in Ohio

[@ChristasGarden]

If you are talking about dtm, yes that could take longer in cooler climates as I mentioned in the video but 8-9 times out of 10 a dry tendril is a good indicator or ripeness. I like to leave it on the vine for 5-10 days after the tendril dries, then pick it.

[@bigpump2620]

Christa's Garden yea i live in new york, i picked one few weeks ago having dried tendrils and all but was white inside and tangy a bit slimy also, ive yet to pick another im to scared to....

[@ChristasGarden]

I understand. That can be frustrating and happened to me a couple of times when I first started growing them. A few weeks ago I harvested a watermelon that was actually slightly overripe with a green tendril. The tendril isn't foolproof but it is a good indicator of ripeness. Once you get a feel for it, it does get easier. Don't give up and good luck.

[@Kangaroojumper]

Looks like steak and taste like watermelon .. 😂 lol kids

[@bellguts2766]

We pick our melon at Food Lion or WalMart so this info is useless to us.

[@ChristasGarden]

The title of the videos is '5 Tips to Help You Harvest A Ripe Watermelon From Your Garden Every Time'. If that doesn't apply to you then you shouldn't have watched it I guess.

[@shawnmcclean1980]

I tell when the melon is ripe by d dry stem

[@nickmeale1957]

Yeah I used to do that, its not super accurate. The dry stem, the weight, the sound of the tap and the underside are all good indicators of ripeness