They do. I had this conversation the other day, and it led to Bill Gates trying to to basically monopolize farming. It was right before a five-hour meeting and so I forgot to research it at all after, but you have just reminded me.
Back on topic though, I can’t find seedless watermelons anywhere. I live in Jersey (New), and my local supermarket is and has been seedless for at least a decade. I can’t recall the last time I enjoyed watermelon with a seed. My presumption was that they’re stopping us from growing them at home. I’m sure it’s much more (or less) nuanced than that. I’m an idiot.
Watermelons are not true to seed- a watermelon grown from a collected seed will not necessarily resemble it’s parent. But surprise melons are fun! Usually not as sweet as those with carefully controlled genetics though.
It’s all about profits. Seedless watermelons usually sell better with American consumers.
In order to produce fruit on triploid watermelons there has to be regular seeded (diploid) varieties in the field. Traditionally they would use a large oblong traditional seeded (allsweet types). Mainly because there was a market for them and they looked different than the seedless varieties.
The growers had to dedicate 1/5th of their acres to growing a seeded melons which they could sell at 50% or less than seedless varieties.
That’s when seed companies introduced dedicated pollinators (non-harvested). These untilized several different dwarf genes and could be interplanted with seedless varities with no loss of space.
With the exception of the big party markets like the 4th of July, most fields utilize the dedicated pollinators in the U.S. now. For production in Latin America, they export the seedless ones to the U.S. and sell the seeded ones l ones domestically.
Bottom line, today you only occasionally seeded watermelons in grocery stores in the U.S. and Canada.
They do. I had this conversation the other day, and it led to Bill Gates trying to to basically monopolize farming. It was right before a five-hour meeting and so I forgot to research it at all after, but you have just reminded me.
Back on topic though, I can’t find seedless watermelons anywhere. I live in Jersey (New), and my local supermarket is and has been seedless for at least a decade. I can’t recall the last time I enjoyed watermelon with a seed. My presumption was that they’re stopping us from growing them at home. I’m sure it’s much more (or less) nuanced than that. I’m an idiot.
Watermelons are not true to seed- a watermelon grown from a collected seed will not necessarily resemble it’s parent. But surprise melons are fun! Usually not as sweet as those with carefully controlled genetics though.
Nah, they don’t really care about gardeners. They need farmers to buy new seeds every year.
It’s all about profits. Seedless watermelons usually sell better with American consumers.
In order to produce fruit on triploid watermelons there has to be regular seeded (diploid) varieties in the field. Traditionally they would use a large oblong traditional seeded (allsweet types). Mainly because there was a market for them and they looked different than the seedless varieties.
The growers had to dedicate 1/5th of their acres to growing a seeded melons which they could sell at 50% or less than seedless varieties.
That’s when seed companies introduced dedicated pollinators (non-harvested). These untilized several different dwarf genes and could be interplanted with seedless varities with no loss of space.
With the exception of the big party markets like the 4th of July, most fields utilize the dedicated pollinators in the U.S. now. For production in Latin America, they export the seedless ones to the U.S. and sell the seeded ones l ones domestically.
Bottom line, today you only occasionally seeded watermelons in grocery stores in the U.S. and Canada.
That’s a thorough explanation, very much appreciated. I’d like to do more than just say thanks but I have nothing to add to the conversation.