How much does a watermelon weigh?

Watermelons cover a wider weight range than almost anything else on this site. A medium seeded melon, the size sold whole at most produce stands, weighs around 6.8 kilograms — but a small seedless one can be two thirds of that, and a large field-grown melon half again as much.

Most of the spread is variety, not chance. Seedless melons are bred smaller and rounder to suit a single household, while classic seeded varieties are bred to keep growing on the vine — which is also why a melon picked before it finishes ripening is lighter than the same melon left a week longer: it simply hasn't finished taking on water. The mini melons sold as personal or single-serve are a different thing again: they run 2 to 3 kilograms and sit well below the range on this page. The figures here describe a whole melon of the ordinary kind.