Wow! Thanks for the feedback!
You're right — I do need to adjust the speed. At the highest difficulty (level 11), it's currently around 96.0 (a floating-point value), but I'm testing lower values between 64.0 and 80.0.
The text can be longer, but I'll probably need to reduce its screen time so it doesn't block visibility. As for the rotting mechanic, since the speed is very high, I have to "give" the player a lot of lives — They can miss up to 60 watermelons and hit up to 6 bombs before the harvest is lost.
About the theme, I think I either missed something or overthought it.