This question is for you gardners, where do the seeds come from for seedless watermelons?

Question

my son had asked me this question and I couldn't asnwer him but I told him I would find out.

Answer 1

Polyploidy is when some cells and organisms have more than two homologous sets of chromosomes. Polyploid types are termed according to the number of chromosome sets in the nucleus: haploid ( one set; 1x), diploid (two sets; 2x) triploid (three sets; 3x), tetraploid (four sets; 4x), pentaploid (five sets; 5x), hexaploid (six sets; 6x) and so on.

Many plants have mixed or varied ploidy. Apples, tulips and lilies are commonly found as both diploid and as triploid. Daylilies (Hemerocallis) cultivars are available as either diploid or tetraploid. Because these plants tend to produce larger flowers and fruit they are desirable. It seems to be closely correlated that domestic plants are polyploid.

Watermelon are an introduced ployploidy. Modern varieties of the watermelon are derived from the native African vine Citrullus lanatus (syn. C. vulgaris). Wild, ancestral watermelons (var. citroides) have a spherical, striped fruit, and white, slightly bitter or bland flesh. The pale flesh tastes like the rind of a typical watermelon.
A researcher studies thousands of seedlings to find ones with the desired characteristics. In searching for a seedless variety, other factors have to be taken into account, as well. The seedless fruit will not be commercially viable if it does not have good flavor, if it is prone to disease, if it is misshapen, etc. The fruit must be as good as seeded varieties, with seedless as an added advantage. So the researcher breeds likely plants, studies the offspring, and breeds these with other likely plants. The developer of the Flame Seedless, a red seedless grape, experimented with over 100,000 seedlings in the course of the quest. The plant that produced the Flame was a cross of five different varieties.

Seedless oranges and seedless grapes are the result of cultivation of naturally occurring seedless plants. The navel orange is descended from a seedless orange tree found on a plantation in Brazil in the nineteenth century. This tree was a mutation, that is, something in its genetic material had spontaneously changed, resulting in this unique plant. Orange growers propagated new trees from the original navel, so that all the navel oranges available in markets today are descended from that Brazilian tree. The common supermarket green seedless grapes are descended from a European seedless grape strain that probably originated between the Black and Caucasus Seas. Grape growers spread this variety all over the world, and the same species exists under many different names. It has been grown in the United States since at least 1872 under the name Thompson. Other seedless grape varieties, even red and black varieties, are also descended from the Thompson. The Thompson has a genetic abnormality that causes the seeds to arrest development. Though the flower is pollinated and the ovum fertilized, the seeds stop growing after a few weeks. So, the grape is not entirely seedless; rather, the seeds are aborted, and exist as tiny specks inside the fruit. Commercial growers treat the plants with a growth hormone called gibberillin, which is normally secreted by developing seeds. The flowers are dipped or sprayed with the hormone so that the grapes grow big and juicy despite the arrested seeds.

Answer 2

Seedless watermelons have only recently been developed by a Japanese professor Kihara. Seedless fruits are commercially valuable as seeds are considered a nuisance by consumers and seedless fruits are easier to eat and thus preferred over otherwise similar seeded fruits. Most commercially produced seedless fruits have been developed from plants whose fruits normally contain numerous relatively large hard seeds that are distributed throughout the flesh of the fruit; there would be little commercial benefit to a seedless peach or apple.

Oddly enough, seedless watermelons are grown from seeds in sun-warmed soil with a little help from the bees. A "seedless watermelon" search in Yahoo! turned up a page from the Territorial Seed Company describing the "culture" of this modern hybrid fruit.

Watermelon breeders discovered that crossing a diploid plant (bearing the standard two sets of chromosomes) with a tetraploid plant (having four sets of chromosomes) results in a fruit that produces a triploid seed. (Yes, it has three sets of chromosomes). This seed grows fruit that rarely develops seeds, although you may find some empty white seed coats. The melon's flesh is firmer because the usual softening of the fruit around the seeds does not occur.

Triploid varieties are more difficult to grow than their seedier cousins but it can be done. Your best bet is to germinate these pricey seeds indoors at an optimal 85º F, and plant them outdoors after soil temperatures have warmed to at least 70º F. It's easier to buy melon transplants and set them out when temperatures are in the 80s. Because seedless melons are sterile and produce little pollen, you'll need to also plant a normal pollinator variety of watermelon in the patch so the bees can pollinate the flowers, contributing to the development of flavorful, well-formed fruit.

Answer 3

Yes, it's true, Seedless Watermelon is an oxymoron

Answer 4

Seedless watermelon is not totally without seed.

Answer 5

Seedless watermelons aren't really seedless. Their seeds are very thin and small. You don't realize that you are eating them.

Answer 6

You can tell him they come from a laboratory, I do believe seedless watermelons are genetically altered.