Every year, seed producers make the cross between two types of watermelons to produce new seedless watermelon seed. Tetraploid watermelon plants are crossed with diploid or normal watermelon plants to produce watermelons with triploid seed. The triploid seed produces seedless watermelon.
Seedless watermelons are hybrid varieties, created from two or more different varieties, that will set fruit without pollination. No pollination = no seeds. The seed producers will re-hybridize the same varieties every year to keep a supply of seedless watermelons year after year.
You cross a watermelon plant with two sets of chromosomes with a watermelon plant with four sets of chromosomes.....with the pollenation abilities of bees. The result is a seed with 3 sets of chromosomes which produces a fruit that generally doesn't produce seeds.
Genetic Modification.
There are also various ways of planting plants
without the need for seeds,
which include and are not limited to
grafting, budding and rooting.
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Seedless watermelons are not genetically modified. GM plants actually have genes from different organisms such as animals inserted into their DNA. Sterile hybrid does not equal GM. Peppermint is a sterile hybrid between spearmint and water mint that rarely produces seed. add a comment
Just like mules (cross between horse and donkey) can continue to exist even though each one is sterile. Essentially the seedless watermelon comes from genetically altered watermelon seeds that produce fruits that are sterile.
