How are seedless watermelons grown?

Seedless watermelon , as the name suggests, refers to a watermelon that does not contain seeds in the flesh. This characteristic not only makes it convenient to eat, but also makes watermelon a darling in the summer fruit market. So do you know how seedless watermelon is cultivated? Let’s take a look together below.

1. Choose the parents

Diploid watermelon: Select a diploid watermelon (2N) with good traits as the male parent. Diploid watermelon is a normally reproduced watermelon variety with a normal set of chromosomes.

Tetraploid watermelon: The chromosomes of diploid watermelon are artificially doubled to obtain tetraploid watermelon (4N) as the mother plant. This is usually achieved by treating diploid watermelon seedlings or seeds with chemicals such as colchicine .

2. Hybrid pollination

During the flowering period, the tetraploid watermelon plants were used as the mother plants and pollinated with the pollen of the diploid watermelon through artificial pollination . In this way, the diploid sperm combines with the tetraploid egg to form a triploid fertilized egg (3N).

3. Cultivate triploid watermelon seedlings

After the fertilized eggs develop into seeds, these triploid seeds are sown in suitable soil to cultivate triploid watermelon seedlings.

4. Management and Growth

During the growth period, triploid watermelon plants should be properly managed, including watering, fertilizing, weeding, and pest and disease control to ensure healthy growth of the plants.

5. Artificial pollination promotes fruit development

Due to the chromosomal abnormalities of triploid watermelons, their pollen is sterile and cannot be naturally pollinated and bear fruit. Therefore, during the flowering period, the female flowers of the triploid watermelon need to be artificially pollinated again using the pollen of the diploid watermelon to stimulate the ovary to develop into fruit.

6. Fruit harvest

After pollination, the ovary develops into a seedless watermelon fruit. After the fruit is ripe, it is picked and processed in time for subsequent consumption and sale.

7. Notes

During the entire breeding process, it is necessary to ensure the selection of excellent parent materials and strictly control pollination and hybridization operations to ensure the yield and quality of seedless watermelons. Triploid watermelon seeds have a lower germination rate, so seed treatment may be required before sowing to improve germination rates. Due to the particularity of seedless watermelon, its management and cultivation require more attention and technology to ensure the best production results.

Through the above method, seedless watermelons can be successfully cultivated, providing consumers with watermelon varieties that have better taste and are more convenient to eat.