On the vine, yellow watermelons is hard to tell apart from red ones; meaning that if you rely solely on your intuition, they’re liable to get picked far too soon. A big melon could be watery and starchy in the middle, and waiting for the rind to turn color isn’t an option, either. Knowing what’s going on biologicaly beneath the skin can mean the difference between sweet fruit and disappointment.
When it comes to growing the fruit, there is a clear process of sugar building up. At first, the watermelons gets bigger and have no taste (the inside is white). Then as they mature, the inside turn yellow (and sweetens) quickly. That’s why learning how the melon grows can help prevent you from harvesting it prematurely: because it appears large. It’s not so much about its size, but more so whether or not it contain enough sugar.
How to Know When Yellow Watermelons Are Ready
Look at that patch where the fruit lie on the ground, it’s the so-called ground spot. It should of turning dark golden yellow-orange color, not remaining pale cream-white. Also: Is the rind glossy? If it’s dull, that means try again; the plant tell you the fruit has ripened by losing its waxy coating.
Newbies can rely on the nearby stem and tendril. Once the little curly vine next to the stem browns and dies back, the plant no longer feed the fruit. Why does it do this? Because after the vine has done its part, it shuts the fruit down by cutting off supply line.
You’ll see definite indication of ripeness inside the melon. Instead of translucent or pale tissue, perfectly ripe yellow watermelon will have brightly golden flesh. In seeded varieties, the seeds should be dark and hard. Graininess or mealy flesh indicates you probably waited too long. And when melons become overripe, they not only go out of shape, but can gets downright funky tasting.
I think people mistakenly think that letting the fruit hang around longer means it will also be sweeter, but after perfect ripeness, sugar content drops more slow than the fruit’s texture. The fruit’s storage conditions will impact its sweetness. Once cut, red-fleshed types holds up better different than yellow-fleshed (which tend to oxidize more quickly).
For eating now: Try to get them harvested and consumed as soon as possible. Store whole melon at room temperature in an area that is not too hot or humid. A refrigerator may harm its flavor compounds. Use this to make frozen smoothies: fruit will be sweeter but mushy.
Be careful with harvesting, as they can be bruised inside, even when the rind appears intact. To avoid this, use sharp shears to leave a bit of stem attached. This will help keep the cut end from going bad.
For an estimate of how long until harvest time, count back from pollination (though that’s also just a guess). The real clues is to examine the fruits’ physical characteristics. Depending on watering and exposure to sun, each melon will ripen independently. Withering back irrigation a little bit in advance of picking may improve the sweetness and concentration of flavor.
The timing: There’s nothing like biting into a fresh slice of juicy fruit to reward the time spent inspecting skins and stems. Patience is a virtue that makes for more flavorful results. All those extra inspections pay off when you peek inside at that golden treasure.