4:55 it was ready to pop, and it was raining out there so it probably would have split on its own. You got me up at 3 am watching videos all hail the #MelonKing lol Thank you so much on showing when to pick melons. most people do NOT do these types of test and show people what you should really look for when harvesting melons.
Thank you! I know this video is a few years old but it's my first time growing lemon drop (or any watermelon) and I had no idea when to harvest. It just stormed tonight so now I know you check for splitting! Very helpful!
I just got my seeds for these beauties! SO excited to try them this summer 😍😍😍 Thanks for showing the details of the melons so I can learn what to look for regarding ripeness!
I have been struggling to get watermelons to grow. I'm so glad I found your video, seeing how you have it set up with the weedblock. I'm going to set mine up the same this year and try again. I have Kaho, Janosik and of course my fave classic Jubilees. I'm really hoping it turns out good this year. Ain't nothin as good as a home grown watermelon!
Super helpful video! I'll be growing a few miniature/ early maturing varieties myself for the first time this year. I really like the look of how crisp that Lemon Drop was, despite it not being extremely sweet. Is that texture unique to Lemon Drop among the minis, or should any variety have that same trait if they're picked at peak ripeness?
Most varieties will have that trait, if picked just before peak ripeness, although they probably won’t be as crisp as Lemon Drop. Lemon Drop may have been specifically bred to have such a crisp flesh, just like it was bred to have such a thin edible rind.
Hello, it is interesting to see your watermelon crops and varietal differences :) What country are these videos from? I live in Poland, we don't have many varieties - maybe 8 ... This year I managed to get foreign varieties, but only the tiny fruits are being formed. I am waiting for more brands from various, perhaps newly acquired varieties, in 2021. Good luck :)
Wait for it to show brown spots, but not turn fully brown. Those brown spots mean it’s beginning to dry and nutrients are no longer being fed to the watermelon.
Yup, I just watched another video with dude saying you can 100% tell if it's ready by the tendril. Nope. It's def one sign to look for but not the only sign.
It’s a land race variety, it can make yellow skin or green skin watermelons. The skin doesn’t change color after ripening, it remains the same color the moment the flower is pollinated. Yellow skin lemon drops don’t start of green and green skin lemon drops don’t turn yellow.
Don’t get why your tendrils dry up early on every variety. Up here in MN the Janosik is the easiest to tell when ripe of any I’ve grown. The outside of melon gets dark green and a bit shiny with raised ribs all around. The tendril turns completely brown and it’s ripe. 80 days after transplanting. The first one or two are a bit under ripe but everyone after is about perfect. I’ve never cut one open that was that under ripe.
From my experience as I watch the progressive stages of the fruits growth, two signs have become highly apparent with every single variety that I grow: 1. Once the tendril begins to dry at the tips, it means the melon has stopped swelling or growing in size and watering should dramatically slow down or cease. It’s basically a visual indicator that deals with the intake of water. Once it completely dries, the next phase starts which deals with maximization of nutrients aka ripening. 2. Once the umbilical begins to dry, it means the melon is beginning to develop it’s aroma/flavor compounds, sugar, and other important nutrients. This process must logically only take place after the melon finishes swelling, due to the common experience of every gardener who’s harvested an underripe melon that has no aroma/flavor, color or sweetness. A melon can only develop aroma/flavor compounds, color and sugar after it has finished developing in size, otherwise it would taste good at any size of its development process. Completely dried tendril means water intake is completed and the melon will no longer grow in size, it’ll only pop. Half dried to full dried umbilical means nutrient intake is completed and the melon will no longer become sweeter, more colorful or aromatic/flavorful.
sgethers14 up here the umbilicals are green as can be when I harvest them. Same with crimson sweet. You’ve seen my pics on Facebook. They are perfectly ripe. I get a few over ripe every year at end of season and umbilical is still green.
I noticed crimson sweet and other All America Selections (AAS) varieties can get some sweetness and color very early on right after the tendril dries, but they won’t be ripe all the way to the rind just like grocery store melons which are 95% of the time not ripe all the way to the rind due to being picked after the tendril dries. I like my fruit to be completely vine ripened. My profile picture also shows a vine ripened watermelon that I grew, it was harvested when about 1/4th of the umbilical was dry. By the way, I checked out Nourse Farms and saw those Mara Des Bois strawberries you mentioned! They were out of stock but I’ll be sure to get some next season. I went a little crazy with some nourse farm purchases and they have some excellent quality plants. Thanks for referring me to them!
4:55 it was ready to pop, and it was raining out there so it probably would have split on its own. You got me up at 3 am watching videos all hail the #MelonKing lol Thank you so much on showing when to pick melons. most people do NOT do these types of test and show people what you should really look for when harvesting melons.
Thank you! I know this video is a few years old but it's my first time growing lemon drop (or any watermelon) and I had no idea when to harvest. It just stormed tonight so now I know you check for splitting!
Very helpful!
Congrats on your success growing watermelons, hope all goes well and it’s able to hold tight until harvest time!
Thanks for the video. I'm going to try and grow lemon drops this year and I was hoping to find something on how to tell when they were ripe
I just got my seeds for these beauties! SO excited to try them this summer 😍😍😍 Thanks for showing the details of the melons so I can learn what to look for regarding ripeness!
Thank you! I have about 10 ldw on the vine and I wasn't sure when to pick them.
I have been struggling to get watermelons to grow. I'm so glad I found your video, seeing how you have it set up with the weedblock. I'm going to set mine up the same this year and try again. I have Kaho, Janosik and of course my fave classic Jubilees. I'm really hoping it turns out good this year. Ain't nothin as good as a home grown watermelon!
Throw Crimson Sweet into that mix if you can! It’s one of the best-flavored around.
I’m going to have to try that lemon drop watermelon next season
Sue - Baker Creek has the seeds in stock right now!!! ❤️
just bought some janosik melon seeds along with many other heirlooms
I've got Lemon drop, Yamato, and janosik going in the ground this year
Great! Hope they do well!
Which tasted the best and performed the best?
Great video! Do you recall how long the vines were on the lemon drop? I'll be growing that one this summer, I hope.
The vines were around 5-8 ft at full length. Very short vines compared to other varieties I’ve grown.
My Lemon Drop Seeds Just Came in for 2021...I'm gonna use all natural Fertilizer.
Super helpful video! I'll be growing a few miniature/ early maturing varieties myself for the first time this year. I really like the look of how crisp that Lemon Drop was, despite it not being extremely sweet. Is that texture unique to Lemon Drop among the minis, or should any variety have that same trait if they're picked at peak ripeness?
Most varieties will have that trait, if picked just before peak ripeness, although they probably won’t be as crisp as Lemon Drop. Lemon Drop may have been specifically bred to have such a crisp flesh, just like it was bred to have such a thin edible rind.
Hello, it is interesting to see your watermelon crops and varietal differences :) What country are these videos from? I live in Poland, we don't have many varieties - maybe 8 ... This year I managed to get foreign varieties, but only the tiny fruits are being formed. I am waiting for more brands from various, perhaps newly acquired varieties, in 2021. Good luck :)
I’m in the United States.
@@SGethersSeeds Thank you🌻🍉🌞🏆
I've got some lemon drop watermelons that are really small but have turned yellow, do still wait for the umbilical to turn brown?
Wait for it to show brown spots, but not turn fully brown. Those brown spots mean it’s beginning to dry and nutrients are no longer being fed to the watermelon.
@@SGethersSeeds thank you so much 🤗🤗🤗
Yup, I just watched another video with dude saying you can 100% tell if it's ready by the tendril. Nope. It's def one sign to look for but not the only sign.
If anything, it’s the 1st sign to look for, but def not the main sign!
Whats that berry above the watermelons?
I’m not sure what berry what mean.
I thought lemon drops are yellow when they're ripe??
It’s a land race variety, it can make yellow skin or green skin watermelons. The skin doesn’t change color after ripening, it remains the same color the moment the flower is pollinated. Yellow skin lemon drops don’t start of green and green skin lemon drops don’t turn yellow.
Don’t get why your tendrils dry up early on every variety. Up here in MN the Janosik is the easiest to tell when ripe of any I’ve grown. The outside of melon gets dark green and a bit shiny with raised ribs all around. The tendril turns completely brown and it’s ripe. 80 days after transplanting. The first one or two are a bit under ripe but everyone after is about perfect. I’ve never cut one open that was that under ripe.
From my experience as I watch the progressive stages of the fruits growth, two signs have become highly apparent with every single variety that I grow:
1. Once the tendril begins to dry at the tips, it means the melon has stopped swelling or growing in size and watering should dramatically slow down or cease. It’s basically a visual indicator that deals with the intake of water. Once it completely dries, the next phase starts which deals with maximization of nutrients aka ripening.
2. Once the umbilical begins to dry, it means the melon is beginning to develop it’s aroma/flavor compounds, sugar, and other important nutrients. This process must logically only take place after the melon finishes swelling, due to the common experience of every gardener who’s harvested an underripe melon that has no aroma/flavor, color or sweetness. A melon can only develop aroma/flavor compounds, color and sugar after it has finished developing in size, otherwise it would taste good at any size of its development process.
Completely dried tendril means water intake is completed and the melon will no longer grow in size, it’ll only pop.
Half dried to full dried umbilical means nutrient intake is completed and the melon will no longer become sweeter, more colorful or aromatic/flavorful.
sgethers14 up here the umbilicals are green as can be when I harvest them. Same with crimson sweet. You’ve seen my pics on Facebook. They are perfectly ripe. I get a few over ripe every year at end of season and umbilical is still green.
I noticed crimson sweet and other All America Selections (AAS) varieties can get some sweetness and color very early on right after the tendril dries, but they won’t be ripe all the way to the rind just like grocery store melons which are 95% of the time not ripe all the way to the rind due to being picked after the tendril dries. I like my fruit to be completely vine ripened. My profile picture also shows a vine ripened watermelon that I grew, it was harvested when about 1/4th of the umbilical was dry.
By the way, I checked out Nourse Farms and saw those Mara Des Bois strawberries you mentioned! They were out of stock but I’ll be sure to get some next season. I went a little crazy with some nourse farm purchases and they have some excellent quality plants. Thanks for referring me to them!
@@SGethersSeeds Thank you for this detailed explaination. So helpful for this first time melon grower (trellised).
I hear if you stop watering when almost ripe they get more sweet
Yes, stop watering once the tendril is drying.
Nice
👍🏼