Don't know what's eating them but you don't want a ripe cucumber. You pick cucumbers while they are still immature. If they were ripe, they would be yellow and have hard seeds. However, when you pick them is totally up to you. When you feel like they've reached a large enough size to eat them, pick 'em. With time you'll find out the lenght and thickness that you enjoy (it's a personal preference really). The one in the picture looks like a good size to me, I'd pick it. Rodney

Another sign to look for on the bottom yellow area are very tiny specks of black dots clustered together. These are mildew spots no bigger than a period at end of a sentence and they won't rub off like specks of soil. These black dots form when the melons has been sitting for a long time, long enough to be ripe if not over ripe. Also when checking the tendril observe the leafs closest to the melon on the vine. If the leaves look vibrant and healthy then it may be too early, if the leaves are somewhat ragged looking then it's may be ripe, it's a good confirmation combo with the brown tendril. The shine of a new melon fades to dull when ripe too and the afore mentioned lumpiness on large melons is a winner. Hi Wayne, it's been a while, thanks again for the Raspa melon tip several years ago, they have served me well with bountiful sweetness. But alas they are too Big for me now and I need your sound advice for a smaller sweet melon version. Any favs you could recommend? Thx again.

lots of fresh fruit you got down there, eggo, great! Your jackfruit is already blooming?!! sheesh mine is three years old and three meters tall and no flowers at all (I just removed some canopy so it gets full sun). Although I´ve seen other jackfruit trees around here way younger than mine and with flowers, so guess it´s a matter of finding those early bearing varieties. Got other varieties but they´re still potted. Hope you get home grown jackfruit!! that rules, eggo. Jackfruit is my favorite fruit (the crunchy ones, though, the soft ones are ok for shakes). A few weeks ago found a longan fruit tree loaded with fruit around here, hope can get fruit of its second batch!! (is it usual for longan bearing twice in a year?? or perhaps it´s just delayed fruit, although both times it was fully loaded with fruit. There are some older trees around here but they´re neglected (unirrigated) so they barely hold any fruit.

It can be a little difficult to get the timing exact. In nature the pomegranate splits open revealing all the inner seeds when it is fully ripe. Of course humans cannot wait that long because as soon as the fruit splits open the birds start getting to it, and even if not for that the fruit perishes very quickly once it is split open. It depends on the variety, some pomegranate cultivars are ripe before the fruit has fully turned red, others may already be very bright red but not ready to harvest yet. The best way to tell is to pull one fruit off the tree and see if it is ripe yet. If it is then chances are all the other fruit on that tree which are the same size and color will also be ripe. Usually you want to wait at least until the fruit is all large and deep red, and when you harvest you may want to leave some fruit on the tree to continue ripening another week or two to see if the fruit becomes sweeter. It is somewhat of an art to pick the fruit at the exact best time. Usually people who have a pomegranate orchard have enough experience to be able to have a good idea when the fruit is ready to harvest. So to summarize again, the following are used as indicators: 1. color of the fruit 2. size of the fruit 3. picking a few of the fruits on the tree to taste 4. date on the calendar Once you have experience with a particular tree, a certain type of variety, and a particular location, you will have a better idea what to look for to let you know when the fruit is fully ripe. Pomegranates are usually ready to harvest in October or November, but some of the early bearing varieties (such as Angel Red) are ready in September.