The sound of a ripe watermelon

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. When we were little, Daddy would take us to the farmers’ market and he’d thump watermelons to pick one (supposedly you could pick a ripe melon by the sound a good thump made.) One researcher has advice that a not ready to eat melon makes a "ping," an over ripe melon makes a "thud," you want a sound in between. A better way is to look at the underside of a melon, the part that didn’t get sun, pick one that is a rich cream color, -- too yellow and it may be overripe. This person adds that the top of the melon is a little faded on the top when it's ripe. In the field, the tendril, or curl on the part of the stem closest to the body of the melon, should be dried up.