How do I tell when my cantaloupe melons and corn ears are ripe? (bugs, sweet)

[coolcats]

I have about a dozen decent-size cantaloupes in my garden. How can I tell when they are ripe? I don’t want to sacrifice any that aren’t ready. Same question for corn. I planted late, but some of them are good size now.

[hjlacey]

I used to harvest my corn ears when the silk on top started turning brown

[Ohiogirl81]

Hold the blossom end of the melon up to your nose; if there's a melon smell, it's ripe.

[coolcats]

Thank you!

[TheHarvester]

Corn: like hjlacey said, brown silk is a good indicator. A more reliable way to tell is to scratch your way into an ear and see if it looks ready. Tender young ears of corn are preferable to over-the-hill ears. As they ripen, the sugars turn to starch, so if you harvest them when they're very full then there's a good chance they won't be as sweet as they would be if you had plucked them a few days earlier. Experiment and see what you prefer, that's the most reliable method.

For melons, one method is to wait until they're practically dropping off the vine. Another method is to hold them up to your ear and knock on them with your knuckles. If they sound very high-pitched then they're less ripe. If they sound very deep and thud-like, then they might be over-the-hill.

Always keep your melons off the ground in order to prevent invasion by bugs or rot. Use anything you want in order to elevate them. If aesthetics aren't an issue then you can put styrofoam cups or other dry trash under them. But keep them out of contact with the soil, otherwise you might lose those melons to other critters.