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| How do they make seedless watermelons? |
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Producing a seedless watermelon involves three steps. First, a plant is treated with colchicine, a substance that allows chromosomes to duplicate, but prevents the copies from being distributed properly to dividing cells. As a result, a plant with four sets of chromosomes is created, a “tetraploid.”
The second step also involves faking pollenization so the plants produce watermelons: Since triploid plants cannot produce pollen, farmers grow diploid “pollenizer” plants near the triploids. The diploids produce the necessary pollen, bees carry it to the female triploid flowers, and the seedless watermelons grow. |
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Factoids
| The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt.
Over 1,200 varieties of watermelons are grown worldwide in 96 countries. Watermelons are 92% water. Watermelon's official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash. By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the U.S., followed by cantaloupe and honeydew. |
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Texas Watermelon Association
P.O. Box 903
Weatherford Texas 76086
Email Us
Phone: 817-596-0927
Fax: 817-594-1045
P.O. Box 903
Weatherford Texas 76086
Email Us
Phone: 817-596-0927
Fax: 817-594-1045
