Ripeness of catalope and honeydew

how do I tell if these babies are ripe?

and the honeydew...

I can't wait to see the answers on this. My cantaloupe looks just about like yours, but I think the "skin" between the netting is a little more darker green yet on mine. I imagine it will get more creamy coloured eventually. I haven't grown melons before so I am not sure about it. I figure they should look pretty much like the grocery store ones, and when I looked at those, the "skin" between the netting was kind of peachy-cream in colour, so I figure that's what I'll wait for. I have heard about this "slipping the vine" thing wherein the melons kind of fall off their stems, but I'm growing mine vertically and am worried about testing that since their weight would break the stems if it wasn't for the nylons I'm using for slings.

If it is a cantaloupe, it will slip (turn loose of the vine) most will change color to some degree. Charantais melons are a different critter, have not grown them. Some honeydews change color, some more dramaticaly than others. There are a few cultivars that actually slip like a cantaloupe. Many of the white ones you can only look for a slight softening of the blossom scar. A ripe Sugar Queen showing slip scar

A green Sugar Queen

Thanks Farmer!!!

When you say it turns loose of the vine, does it do that by itself, or with help? Will the stem to the melon just come off? Mine is looking like the green sugar queen. But it does have netting all over. How long did it take for the green sugar queen to go to the ripe stage?

At full slip, if you try to move the vine, you leave the melon, If you are keeping a melon for a couple of days, you usually pick at half slip, where you twist the melon slightly to release it . In neither case do you ever break the stem. It take about 5 weeks from set to ripe for the Sugar Queen which is a mid-season ( 80- 85 day ) melon.

Thanks Farmerdill. I will keep watching mine. My ambrosia is listed as 86 days to maturity. It's been green and netted for at least a month. I keep hoping to see it turn colour a bit more and have a ripe scent to it but it just isn't happening yet. Patience is a virtue, they say. I always knew I wasn't very virtuous. :-)

On Honey Dews. This is a Magic-to-Dew, The color change is subtle. There will a subtle springing of the blossom scar ( pictured) when ripe. This one does slip but most honeydews don't.

Muskmelons most definately change color. They can go from green to a shade of tan/yellow in a few hours. Once a field starts ripening, we will go through it early morning & afternoon. If you don't, the picnic bugs will eat before you do. They will literally fall off the vine when ripe.
We are raising honeydews this year. They are very dark green until getting ripe, then they turn to a light yellow. They also slip quite easy.
Bernie

The honeydew variety is Passport.
Bernie

Actually, Bernie, The Passport is a Galia type cantaloupe. Good tho.

Sure, I bought the seed from Harris. They had it grouped with the Honeydews. When I carefully read the discription, they don't really say what it is.
Fancy catalogs & seed companies, what a pain!

We were wondering why it tasted like muskmelon.
Bernie

Yep I see them grouped with exotic melons, Mediterannean melons, dessert melons etc. The class was introduced in the mediteranean and is reported to a cross between a western cantaloupe and a Spanish type melon. I don't know, but many of the cultivars are developed by Israeli Seed Companies. I love the taste and am looking at different cultivars. Passport is a big, beautiful, delicious melon. Quite early But as you have probably discovered it has no shelf life, and is prone to being chewed on by slugs,and like critters. It ripens quickly and overripens more quickly. Rocky Sweet is just as early, not as large, and will hold after picking a couple of days. I am still looking for one that will hold for a week after picking. Sometimes it is hard to unload all of them within two days of picking and I give them away.

Ours don't hang around long enough to know if they have a shelf life.
We have a cooler to help, but we are marketing 3x a week.
Go to handyman forum, look for homemade cooler.
Bernie

All of a sudden, yesterday, my first ambrosia cantaloupe ripened. I checked it on Saturday and it was still green. Here it was last night! It had separated from the vine.

And here it was before I ate it (well, not all of it yet!)

Beautiful pictures. they will make a wonderful addition to the ones you have already entered in Plantfiles.

Thanks! I did submit them but they're "pending" right now. Hopefully soon I will have some pictures of a Noir des Carmes and a Charentais melon too.

CMoxon - what type of Charentais are you growing? I'm growing one from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds sold as just Charentais. It's supposed to be red-fleshed. Plantfiles here at DG lists many different types of Chaerntais so I'm not sure what type I have.
Flip

Hi Flip,
The charentais that I'm growing is from seed I bought from Seed Savers.
http://www.seedsavers.org/prodinfo.asp?number=1206
That's a link to the one I'm growing. I won't know which entry on PlantFiles to put pictures into!

Probably a generic open pollinated Charentais. Since there is a generic entry for cantaloupe, I see no reason not to open a generic entry for Charentais melon.

I added the generic version to PlantFiles