As stated above.....all cantalope/muskmelons turn tan/yellow when ripe.Galia types also turn that color.Both kinds slip from the vine.But don't tug them off or they will be at 1/2 slip and not as sweet. For varieties I have grown around 35 different ones.For muskmelons....I like the new Goddess and Alaska for an early ones and Aphrodite,Sensation and probably the best tasting of them all.....Athena. The Galia types are green fleshed,and to me taste closer to Honeydews.I like Passport,Arava,and Rocky Sweet. Honeydews do not slip and it is a lot more difficult to tell when ripe.Look for a suttle change in color from green to a soft greenish./cream color.Earlydew is reliable here. Watermelons are totally different.My favorites are Yellow Doll,Mickylee....the crispiest melon I have grown....Sweet Beauty....all 6-10 lbs and the old fashioned Crimson Sweet for a later larger melon.They will hit over 20 lbs here if we have a warm summer.For a seedless.....Gypsy is my favorite.It is the only one that germinates reliably There is no way to easily tell when watermelons are ripe just by looking at them.I look for the tendril opposite the melon to be dried up.But the best way to tell is to label them when they are polinated.When they are golf ball sized.....I take plastic knives and write the date on it and stick it in the ground next to the melon.Add 30-35 days and it should be ripe most of the time. Since I live in zone 4 I have to do somethings extra to get ripe melons before frost kills them. 1.Start them indoors 3 weeks early in pots. 2.put down black plastic in a row where they will go to warm up the ground 3.I use clear plastic grow tunnels over them.Cut holes in the black plastic,dig out the soil.Put in some 10-10-10 and put 2 or 3 plants in.Move down the row 3 feet and do it again and again until you have them all planted.Put your clear plastic over hoops and cut holes in it here and there to let out excessive heat.When the melon plants stretch out to the edge of the plastic,uncover them. 4.Get those melons up off the ground and out of the shade of the leaves and into the sunshine.I use overturned pots.Put your dated plastic knife next to it and wait for them to ripen. People in warmer zones probably don't have to do this.....but here in the northern part of the country it gives me lots of good melons to eat for about 2 months.

p.s., the direction's on the pack of seed's said that the mellon would be ready to pick when the leaf that is closest to the mellon would die they would be ready to pick then,but in my case the mellon's where rock hard so i waited till the mellons was just firm (not hard)and could just bareley smell them and i still had to cut the stem to free the mellons,hopeing this help's you. les matzek

spaghetina, pacifica def. has good pea weather and chard, greens ;) san carlos is very warm so you should have no problem with melons...i think it has similiar weather to san rafael (where i am), maybe even warmer...!! ************* Very nice. It is a good feeling, I know it. I picked about 8 Korean melons(small , oval, orange yellow color). 3 others had been half eaten by some creatures(I suspect rats). Four of them are still in the frig. By the way, your first pick seems to be overripe. How do I know it: First, it has no stem, second, when you cut it, seeds have made channels, and on one side you can see dicoloration and softening due to overripeness. Also, the seeds have broken their cage. Those seeds are perfect for saving. ************** Cyrus gardeneer: i did save the seeds but it is a hybrid so who knows what will grow from them. also, i would be surprised if it was overripe as it was still sort of crunchy and not super sweet throughout and i know they are supposed to be very sweet. also, the stem broke off like that due to my manhandling the poor melon. from what i read the melons are supposed to get yellow throughout on the outside and smell very fragrant and mine still had some green and only smelled if i put my nose right on it.

The suggestions all of you posted pretty much covers what we do here. Check to see if the tendril nearest the stem is dead, AND the two tendrils directly left and right of the stem. Check the bottom of the melon for yellowness. Push on the melon a bit to hear it crack inside. This is hard to do but when you actually do hear it crack it is a sure sign. Thumping on the melon I found it to be mainly a sign of how crisp the melon is - how fresh. Not much of an indicator of when ripe, but if it is overripe. Another good thing to check ripeness AFTER the melon is picked is to check for syrup coming out of the stem. If you see this dark sticky substance oozing out, you have a real yummy one there! We have also found that certain varieties do not work well with the tendril technique. If you are having problems I'd just wait a week or so after the tendril dies and then pick the finicky watermelon. However, we have never gotten those hard to tell melons again just because of that. We stick to the best all around: Crimson Sweet! Wow, what a winner! As for musk melons we always look for the overall tan/ yellow color of the outer rind, the more corky it looks the better, and how easy it is for the stem to be pulled off.