[Raiquee]

I somehow managed to pick 30 melons out of my garden last year, only plucking one that was underripe.

With cantaloupe and such I wait until the vine itself starts slipping. Sometimes you can go by smell, but sometimes they aren't fully ripe. I waited until the vine told me by starting to detach.

Watermelon I do the thumping, I do the yellow underbelly, I do the dried tendril, and I do the fingernail test.

press your fingernail into the rind of the melon. If it easily pushes in, it's not ripe yet. I have one that is barely making marks with my fingernail. Checking it everyday.