Tetraploid Production in Watermelon

Fred McCuistion and Todd C. Wehner

Unpublished, 1998

Purpose

There is much interest in seedless watermelons in the consumer market. Unfortunately, there are few tetraploids available for the production of new seedless triploids. We were interested in tetraploids for use by the industry in production of new hybrid cultivars.

Objectives

1. Collect all available diploid and tetraploid varieties
2. Develop new tetraploid lines
3. Improve methods for tetraploid line development

Results

Over 100 watermelon diploids and tetraploids have been collected with the help of plant breeders in public and private institutions. The diploids will be increased and made available to those interested in using them in breeding and research projects.

The best tetraploid lines from 17 diploid cultivars were tested for fruit quality and seed fertility.

We catalogued 300 watermelon cultivars, and collected seeds and pedigree information on them for use by industry.