Why YSK: These tips may help you pick a more ripe, juicier, sweeter watermelon.

  • Brad Ganley@toad.work
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    1 year ago

    This is all good info except for the gender thing. The round/long difference is just a growth habit. Watermelon plants (and other cucurbits like squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, etc) produce male and female flowers. Only the female flowers produce fruit and must be pollinated by a male flower to do so.

  • Fisk400@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This was bullshit the first 2000 times it was posted to reddit and it’s still bullshit here.

    • The_v@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I just roll my eyes at it now.

      FYI there is no reliable way to tell if a watermelon is ripe after it is harvested. The most reliable indicator is the tendril on the node the peduncle is attached to. When it is fully dry, the fruit is ready.

  • thekinghaslost@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Nah, I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve always done: tapping the watermelon to hear the sound and pretend that I know what I’m doing.

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ll just remember “pick the most fucked up looking melon with patchy orange spots and ugly crisscross webbing”. It’s probably not going to make the photo reel but it’ll taste good.

  • cshock@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Why the green arrow for the “wrong” one, and the red arrow for the “right” one?

    3 of the 4 items (gender doesn’t matter, variety does) are generally correct.
    Source: I’m a former watermelon “cutter” (the guy that goes out in the field first thing in the morning and cuts the good melons off the vine, and turns them belly side up so it’s obvious to the field workers which melons to load up)

    Also, with the whole thumping thing, most people just look silly doing as they don’t know what they’re doing. If you do thump, ones that have a higher pitched ping are still green, and that have a really dull/flat thud are over-ripe/too gritty/sugary. Also, weight should feel right, too light and it’s overripe/rotten.

    In general, any melon sold at the store should be good, just take one and stop trying to be a hero. At least the farmers I dealt with are pretty ethical, they aren’t purposely shipping bad melons. It just takes experience of seeing/handling melons for a while to get the “picking one” correct. Most store I know of have a satisfaction guarantee anyway, take pictures if it’s bad and when you go back get a refund if you’re that concerned with it.

    • boothin@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I believe in China red/green meaning is reversed for things like this, where red means positive/good and green means negative/bad

  • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Never eat them, horrible watery bullshit and more effort than they’re worth.

    However, a very much appreciated post because my wife loves them and if this is true, I can become the Watermelon Wizard

    Thanks, possibly:)

  • Zulu_paradise@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    There’s nothing better and more comforting than sitting down with a cold watermelon in the middle of summer.

    Conversely, there’s nothing worse than sitting down with an unsweetened, tasteless garbage ball of a watermelon.

    Saving this to increase my odds!