When to Harvest Watermelon: 5 Ways to Tell It’s Ripe

Nothing says summer like a sweet juicy homegrown watermelon. Yet knowing when to harvest your watermelon can be tricky. If done too early, the melon won’t be sweet or edible. And if you wait too long, it can get mealy and gross. So, come learn exactly when to pick a watermelon from the garden – including five signs that it’s ripe and ready to harvest.

As you read through the list below, do not rely on any one signal alone. The more of these boxes you can check before harvest, the better your watermelon will be! I’ll also cover tips on the best way to store whole and cut watermelon after harvest. After all the hard work and time you spent growing it, you’ll be rewarded with the best-tasting watermelon possible.

RELATED: Come learn how and when to harvest butternut squash, pumpkins, and other winter squash – along with essential tips on curing and storage.

Does watermelon continue to ripen after harvest?

No. Unlike some other melons or fruit, watermelon will NOT continue to ripen off the vine if picked too early. That means it will only get as sweet (or, not sweet at all) as it is at the time of harvest. Most of the sweet flavor develops during the final couple weeks on the vine, so patience is a virtue!

5 Signs a Watermelon is Ripe

1) Brown Tendrils

Take a close look at your watermelon vine. Near each fruit, you will find a small curly vine tendril. When a watermelon is almost ripe, the tendril closest to the melon stem will start to dry up and turn brown and crispy instead of green. To play it safe, you could even wait until the three closest tendrils turn brown (the one above and one below the melon too). Remember, this isn’t the only indicator it’s ready though!

2) Yellow Spot

Gently turn your watermelon over. When laying on the ground, watermelons will have a large white spot on their skin where they rest on the soil. When it’s almost time to pick the watermelon, that spot will turn from white to yellow. The darker yellow, the more ripe it is! This tip doesn’t apply to melons hanging from a trellis however.

3) Deep Hollow Sound

If you gently spank a watermelon with your hand, an underripe melon will have a more sharp, high-pitch, flat sound. As the fruit grows more ripe and juicy, the sound will become increasingly deep, resonant, and hollow-sounding. This one admittedly takes a little practice to decipher. Slap a couple melons to compare the different sounds!

4) Rind Changes

You know it’s almost time to harvest your watermelon when the skin or rind becomes dull-looking. A young watermelon rind is usually quite bright or shiny, but changes to a more dull or matte appearance as it ripens.

5) Expected Days to Maturity

Last but not least, check the stats for the variety of watermelon you’re growing! The seed packet or plant tag should list an expected “days to maturity” – or the timeframe you could expect it to be ready to harvest.

Different varieties of watermelon can take anywhere from 65 to 120 days to mature after planting. For example, we love to grow Blacktail Mountain watermelon, an early-maturing variety that only takes about 75 days. While weather, soil, water, and other factors can also influence how quickly a watermelon grows and ripens, that number should give you at least a ballpark estimate of when harvest time is near.

How to Harvest Watermelon

Once you’ve decided it’s time to harvest your watermelon, simply use sharp scissors or garden shears to cut the stem just above the melon to remove it from the vine. Take care not to cut the main vine, especially if there are still other melons growing on it.

What happens if I wait too long to pick a watermelon?

Thankfully, watermelons usually stay good on the vine for a couple weeks past their optimal harvest window. However, the crisp melon flesh will become increasingly mealy, watery, and soft over time. If you wait too long, it may split open or start to go bad.

How to Store Whole Watermelon

It’s best to store freshly-picked whole watermelon at room temperature. Choose a temperate location away from direct sunlight, such as your kitchen counter. 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. Like other warm-weather crops (including tomatoes), watermelon’s flavor, quality, and even some of the nutrients can deteriorate when it’s stored in colder conditions.

If stored at room temperature, plan to eat your watermelon within a week or two after harvest. The sooner after harvest, the better it will taste! It will last a couple weeks longer if stored in the fridge, but at the expense of the flavor and texture. If you prefer to eat your watermelon cold, pop it in the fridge for a few hours before you cut into it.

Storing Cut Watermelon

Once cut, watermelon must be refrigerated for food safety. Cut watermelon is technically good in the fridge for about 5 days, but should be consumed within 1 to 3 days for the best quality.

Oxygen exposure causes it to rapidly degrade, so be sure to wrap or store cut watermelon in an air tight container. Keeping it in larger chunks (e.g. only cutting up one half at a time) can also help extend the shelf life in the fridge.

When we had too much fresh watermelon to eat before it went bad, we preserved it by juicing a few to freeze the juice for refreshing future mocktails!

And with that, you know everything you need to know to pick and store some delicious homegrown watermelon. I hope these tips are helpful. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below, and happy harvesting!

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