Tips for choosing a good watermelon

　　1. Observe colors and listen to sounds

　　If the surface of the melon is smooth, with clear patterns, obvious lines, and the bottom is yellow, it is a ripe melon; if the surface has fluff, dull luster, spots, and unclear lines, it is an underripe melon; if you pick the melon with your fingers and hear a "bang bang" sound, it is a ripe melon; if you hear a "dang" sound, it is not yet ripe, and if you hear a "pop" sound, it is an overripe melon.

　　2. Look at the melon handle

　　If the melon is green, it is a ripe melon; if it is dark brown, has hairs falling off, is bent and brittle, and the tips of the tendrils have turned yellow and withered, it is a melon that was picked before it was ripe; if the melon stem has dried up, it is an "ayahuasca melon" and is of poor quality.

　　3. Look at the head and tail

　　Those with well-proportioned ends, deep depressions in the umbilicus and melon base, and plump all around are good melons; melons with large heads and small tails or thick, pointed heads and tails are of poor quality.

　　4. Specific elasticity

　　If the skin of the melon is thin and easily broken when pressed with your fingers, it is a ripe melon; if it cracks when scratched with your fingernails and the melon is soft, it is an overripe melon.

　　5. Weigh with hands

　　If there is a feeling of floating in the sky, it is a ripe melon; if there is a feeling of sinking, it is a raw melon.

　　6. Trial specific gravity

　　When put into water, the ones that float upward are ripe melons; those that sink are raw melons.

　　7. Look at the size

　　Within the same species, larger is better than smaller. There is a certain correlation between the size of watermelon and its maturity. Huge watermelons are not the first to ripen, but they are definitely not the last to ripen. They are usually in the middle of the watermelon's ripening period. Therefore, before most watermelons are on the market, you should buy small and medium-sized melons, which have a higher probability of ripening, while large watermelons have a lower probability of ripening. By the same token, when watermelons are on the market on a large scale, it is no longer appropriate to buy small melons, but large ones. Small watermelons may be early-maturing varieties (early-planted watermelons).

　　8. Observe the shape

　　If the melon body is neat and well-proportioned, the growth is normal and the quality is good; if the melon body is deformed, the growth is abnormal and the quality is poor. Life common sense

　　9. Look at the melon skin

　　Jingxin No. 1, the dark green mesh stripes on the light green melon skin and the almost spherical body are their symbols. There is also a watermelon like Black Beauty, with a green and black body and a slim body, which is also a mark of choice. In addition, popular varieties currently on the market include Chunhongyu, Jinxiaofeng and other unique watermelon varieties.

　　It should be noted that the quality of a watermelon is fundamentally determined by genes, and the varieties mentioned above were selected through long-term cultivation and selection by horticulturists. From the time their seeds germinate, they have a higher chance of producing watermelons with higher sugar content and more moisture.

　　10. Plant observation method

　　Looking up and down from the vine where the melon base is located, if it naturally dries up, it indicates that the growth of the watermelon has ended naturally and the watermelon is mature.