Seedless Watermelon

Seedless watermelon receives well above the average price for seeded watermelons in the market. Triploid seedless watermelon also produces higher yields than the diploid seeded watermelons. The significantly increased watermelon productivity and farm value as well as decreased production acreage in the USA since the mid-1990s are the result of using triploid seedless watermelon varieties in commercial production.

The seedless trait in the watermelon fruit is highly desired by consumers.

For production of seedless watermelon, optimum pollination characteristics of the pollenizing plant are desired. Seedless watermelon plants are triploid and must be pollinated by the pollen of seeded watermelon plants.

To provide adequate pollenization of seedless watermelon plants, the recent practice has been to plant pollenizer plants over approximately 25-33% of the field surface. The remaining portion of the field is planted with the triploid seedless watermelon plants.

Enhanced watermelon pollenizers like SP-I have small leaves that allow the pollenizer to be grown in close proximity to the triploid seedless watermelon plants without competing with them, thereby increasing seedless plant populations and yields of seedless fruits.

This patent describes a method for mechanically sowing or seeding an enhanced watermelon pollenizer, such as SP-I, in the same tray with a triploid seedless watermelon variety.

Patent

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