How can you tell when your melons are ripe?

With cantaloupes and most muskmelons, watch for a crack to form around the stem where it is attached to the fruit. When a light tap of your thumb removes the melon, it is ripe. This is called "slipping its stem". Not all melons do this, especially honeydews. I watch for a yellow patch to show on their otherwise creamy-lime skin. It is an obvious color blemish. With watermelons, I count tendrils. Find where the melon is attached to the vine and see if the curlycue tendril there is dry. Then go along the stem two more tendrils and if they are all dry, then nothing is feeding that melon anymore and hopefully it is delicious!

See the separation where the stem meets the melon?