The period of ripening of watermelon
To get a good harvest of watermelons, you need in may to take care of the seedlings. When the plant there are three leaves, it can be transplanted in the open ground or greenhouse. This point is typically late may or early June. From that period you will need to wait about 60 days. Only after this period, you can determine the ripeness of watermelon.
Of course, the number of days may vary in greater or lesser degree depending on weather conditions and varieties of berries. If the whole summer was hot, and the first harvest will not keep itself waiting long. The size of the fetus doesn't mean it's ripeness, so you should learn how to determine the ripeness of a melon.
How to determine ripeness
To determine the ripeness of the green berries in the garden can be on the skin. When it starts the ripening process, it turns from matte to shiny. A good indicator of ripeness are scratches on the watermelon. She remains on the beak of Raven. Birds won't peck unripe watermelon. How they calculate this, is anyone's guess. To avoid damage to the crop of birds to build a Scarecrow. To prevent perestavaya or not to disrupt green watermelon, you should pay attention to the stem. It should be dry.
Dry peduncle suggests that watermelon has already won all the nutrients and now Matures.
The sound from tapping
You can twist watermelon in the garden to find a small yellow side, that watermelon has touched the ground. It is an indicator of the ripeness of watermelon. Practiced and the method of tapping. Really hold it several times in different period of time. At maturity, all watermelons will make a ringing sound. So you need to tap on the watermelon, and then repeat it in a week and compare the sonority of the sound. In the ripe watermelon flesh is broken, and because of this, the sound will be somewhat muffled.
Green, unripe watermelon also makes an empty, hollow sound, so you should be especially careful.
A ripe watermelon peel bright, with clear print and very hard. If you can easily pierce it with your fingernail, then watermelon should not be torn, let more ripen. The crust thickens to maintain moisture inside the fruit. When you Pat a ripe watermelon it will even bounce a little.
In an average strip of Russia it is very risky to grow watermelons, because weather anomalies can cause damage to the crop. But do not despair at the first failure, probably next time will be able to grow this sweet berry in your region.