Watermelon: Use the tap test to tell if it's ripe

Created: 05/16/2022, 02:00 p.m

By: Joana Lück

Anyone who grows watermelons themselves asks themselves: are the fruits really ripe?

Just tap the fruit to find out.

Munich – Watermelons are refreshing, healthy and even quench your thirst.

In the supermarket, there is no great skill in choosing a specimen that is ripe.

But it is much more difficult in the garden bed, because then you ask yourself: When is the right time for the harvest?

Watermelon: Use the tap test to tell if it's ripe

Ripe watermelons can be identified by their hollow sound when tapped.

(Icon image) © Cavan Images/Imago

Unlike many other fruits, watermelons don't get sweeter after they're harvested.

So timing is very important.

If they are too young, they taste sour and the flesh is almost inedible.

Fruits that are too ripe, however, are not very desirable either, as they quickly become floury.

Incidentally, the peel of ripe fruits can also be eaten.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when harvesting watermelons:

• Most watermelon varieties take between two and three months to fully ripen.

  As a guide, the melons are ripe a month after the first flowers appear.

• The color of the watermelon can also provide information about the degree of ripeness: where the fruit is lying on the ground, the skin turns yellowish as it ripens.

• Whether you choose a striped or non-striped variety does not change the degree of ripeness.

  If the skin is very smooth and shiny, this is an indication that the watermelon still has to ripen a little.

  On the other hand, duller and rougher skins are an indication of ripe fruit.

• The most popular is the tapping test: Ripe watermelons sound hollow and dull when you tap the skin lightly with your fist.

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Watermelon: growing made easy

In addition to watermelons, sugar melons, including honeydew melons, can also be grown.

But there is one setback: In Germany, outdoor cultivation is only possible in very warm wine-growing regions.

As a pumpkin plant, the watermelon feels right at home in humus-rich, medium-heavy soil with a high organic mass.

In addition, the soil for the heavy feeders should be loose and well aerated.

Waterlogging is poison for the fruit.