so would everyone else ;-)

Here is a site that gives some of the ways others use to determine when to pick the mellon.

I've picked melons [my own] for a while. The number one rule is....the nearest tendril to the melon stem must be brown. It helps in the garden to have been watching the tendril. Personally I like my melons well done so I wait a few more days usually. The other signs like a buttery color on bottom, a duller apperance, a deeper thumping sound, and a slight sunburn on the blossom end on top are all useful signs, but I have seen some of these signs to be missing sometimes. For example, a small melon may not thump deeply until it is rotten ripe.

Wayne,

"For example, a small melon may not thump deeply until it is rotten ripe."

Good point. And by the same token, a big melon tends naturally to have a lower tone, and that should also be taken into effect. I have a variety of sizes of smaller melons (growing on "watermelon towers" for the space conservation of vertical gardening) and I have to make allowances for size in thumping.

In addition to the things already mentioned, I look at the stem of the watermelon. A young watermelon has noticeable fine hairs on the stem, which are lost by the time the melon is ripe. So I look for a smooth stem.

MM