Rita Foust said:

Tried Charentais as it is supposed to be super sweet luxury type Melon. My
Dad says the Melons are splitting open before they ripen. He took one off
the vine after it split and said it was not sweet. Also he said the stem
was still green and not dried up.

The usual cause for melons splitting when they are nearly ripe is a heavy
rain. Follow that on with bright, hot sun and the melons are prone to
split.

He asked me how to tell if melons are
ripe, I told him to use the pressure on the blossom end test. I think he is
getting confused about the vines getting brown and hard with the squash.
Should the vine get brown before you pick it?

It's winter squash that you don't pick until the vine is nearly dead. For
musk melons, you look for color, smell, a little give at the blossom end.
Some types you wait for them to slip right off the vine. Charentais, though,
are usually picked just before they slip. (Had one from the store recently
and it was very good.)

How do you tell when the
melons are ripe. Dad mainly takes care of the 1500 sq ft garden as I can't
go down every weekend any more, so I have to give him instructions.
Why are the melons splitting?

Cut back on any supplemental water as the melons get near to ripening,
and hope that you don't get too much rain.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)