{"id":16617,"date":"2024-07-16T08:14:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T12:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/?p=16617"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:08:58","slug":"how-to-tell-when-cantaloupe-is-ripe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2024\/07\/how-to-tell-when-cantaloupe-is-ripe.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Tell When Cantaloupe Is Ripe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the opossums eat it, of course.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the first questions I had this summer about my new patch of cantaloupe growing in the raised bed garden was, “How to tell when cantaloupe is ripe? How do you know it’s time to pick it??”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I searched online for the answer. “It will smell musky.” Musky? What the heck does that even mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It will separate easily from the vine.” Okay, that makes sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The webbing will become pronounced.” Check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have another way to tell: when the opossums take bites out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bite marks in cantaloupe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Growing Cantaloupe in the Backyard – Pests <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My husband insists that the marks aren’t possum bites. We’ve had possums dig into our fruit before, and they leave distinctive crescent-shaped bite marks – and usually succeed in piercing the hard rind. He thinks it was the slugs in the raised bed that took these bites out of the fruit. Regardless of the pest that started eating the melon, I was able to salvage it before they ate through the rind. We enjoyed it last night. It was heavenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Tell When Cantaloupe Is Ripe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, let’s unpack the advice I found online and the reality of how to tell when cantaloupe is ripe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n