For more information on commercial vegetable production, contact Ron Goldy at ext. This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. Seedless watermelon — how do they do that? Did you find this article useful? Please tell us why Submit. Learn More. Mornings on the Farm - May Mornings on the Farm - August Evenings in the Garden - Winter Series - March 5. Organic Vegetable Field Day. Related Content. Search Search. Seedless watermelons are particularly interesting because they must be propagated by seed, and yet growers can still exploit parthenocarpy.
One way to make seedless watermelons is to produce triploid seed. As in the case of bananas, triploid watermelons cannot produce functional seed, but they still develop good fruit through parthenocarpy.
Plant breeders produce triploid seed by crossing a normal diploid parent with a tetraploid parent, which itself is made by genetically manipulating diploids to double their chromosome number.
In the case of watermelons, this manipulation has to be performed each generation, so it is a somewhat expensive proposition but still worthwhile. Plant biologists have learned that if the plant hormone auxin is produced early in ovule development, parthenocarpic fruit can grow on plants that do not usually exhibit this property.
Thus, genetic engineering will most likely give consumers parthenocarpic fruit in many other species in the near future. Answer originally posted October 2, Sign up for our email newsletter. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options.
Go Paperless with Digital. They have three sets of chromosomes. This odd number results in them being sterile and not producing seeds. The way they become triploid is by mating a diploid male with a tetraploid female.
Tetraploids have four sets of chromosomes. The way you get tetraploids is by applying a chemical called colchicine which messes with cells as they are dividing. You add it to diploid seedlings and then some cells become tetraploid. You have to cultivate these over several generations to get enough that produce enough viable seeds with suitable traits. Watermelon plants have male flowers and female flowers. The female flowers have a little pea-sized melon behind it.
You remove the male flowers on the tetraploid plants because the female tetraploid flowers produce triploid fruit. It doesn't work with a male tetraploid and female diploid. Pollination can be done by hand or using bees.
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