How to Choose a Ripe Watermelon and Melon This Summer

Summer markets fill with mountains of watermelons and melons, and "how do you pick a sweet one" becomes almost as common a question as "how hot is it today." The trouble is that both fruits keep their secrets well — the outside rarely gives away what's waiting inside.

We gathered the checks that farmers and horticulture specialists actually rely on and turned them into a simple infographic, available in Russian, English, and Uzbek.

For watermelon, look at the field spot where it rested on the ground, its weight for size, its shape, the width of its dark stripes, the sound it makes when you knock on it, and the finish of its skin. For melon, check the rind color, how raised the netting is, the scar where the stem was, how much the far end gives under gentle pressure, its smell near the blossom end, and its weight.

One rule applies to both: neither fruit gets sweeter after it's picked, so every check has to happen before it leaves the store.