how do they grow seedless watermelons?
Answers:
Seedless watermelon are a hybrid that requires hybridized seeds every year. Like a lot of hybrid plants, planting the pitiful seeds of a seedless watermelon won't produce the same plant the next generation.
Good luck with your horticultural endeavors.
Other answers:
genetic alteration. the same way they added fish genes to tomatoes so that they won't be harmed during frost.
They keep messing with our food chain!
genetic alteration. the same way they added fish genes to tomatoes so that they won't be harmed during frost.
They keep messing with our food chain!
From Wikipedia:
Although so-called "seedless" watermelons have far fewer seeds than the seeded varieties, they generally contain at least a few soft, pale seeds.
They are the product of crossing a female tetraploid plant (itself the product of genetic manipulation, using colchicine) with diploid pollen. The resulting triploid plant is sterile, but will produce the seedless fruit if pollenized by a diploid plant.
For this reason, commercially available seedless watermelon seeds actually contain two varieties of seeds; that of the triploid seedless plant itself (recognizable because the seed is larger), and the diploid plant which is needed to pollenize the triploid.
Unless both plant types are grown in the same vicinity, no seedless fruit will result.
This system for growing seedless watermelons was first developed by Dr. Kihara in Japan and subsequently improved by Dr. O J Eigsti in partnership with Dr. Kihara.
Dr. Eigsti developed a tetraploid hybrid in the 1950's which became the gold standard for all seedless watermelons developed since then.
Don't start them in the house thinking you'll get an early start. The directions are on every package. Plant seeds on a little hill. There are packages marked "seedless". The most important thing is prepare your ground properly first. Water well as soon as you plant. new plants don't need plant food, but bone meal is always helpful to put in the hole when you are planting.