Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 21, 2012 17:10:14 GMT -5
I couldn't wait any more... 
I opened one of the allegedly tetraploid watermelons and ate it today. It was still a bit immature. (In the diploid seeds mature to a brown color. The seeds today were ivory colored. I saved the seeds anyway, and will run a germination test later on.) Brix was 7.5, so an acceptable watermelon, about what could be expected in my garden for the diploid version of Charleston Gray. I expect frost in 2-4 weeks so many melons are likely to mature.
It sure was weird... It had the same flavor and texture of the only watermelon that my family has grown for as long as I can remember, but the seeds were all wrong!!! They seemed about 2X as thick as usual, same length and breadth though. Wee Ha!!! Just as expected for a multi-polid!
No amount of environmental conditions would account for the seeds being so out of whack.
And while I was in the garden, I attempted some more crosses:
Tetraploid X diploid.
Tetraploid X Bryonia alba.
Diploid X Bryonia alba.
(I'm following the industry standard of listing the female first followed by the male.)
As last time, the female flowers had already opened, so I attempted the pollination anyway, and wrapped a ribbon around the flower to prevent any more visits by flying pollinators.
I opened one of the allegedly tetraploid watermelons and ate it today. It was still a bit immature. (In the diploid seeds mature to a brown color. The seeds today were ivory colored. I saved the seeds anyway, and will run a germination test later on.) Brix was 7.5, so an acceptable watermelon, about what could be expected in my garden for the diploid version of Charleston Gray. I expect frost in 2-4 weeks so many melons are likely to mature. It sure was weird... It had the same flavor and texture of the only watermelon that my family has grown for as long as I can remember, but the seeds were all wrong!!! They seemed about 2X as thick as usual, same length and breadth though. Wee Ha!!! Just as expected for a multi-polid!
No amount of environmental conditions would account for the seeds being so out of whack.And while I was in the garden, I attempted some more crosses:
Tetraploid X diploid.
Tetraploid X Bryonia alba.
Diploid X Bryonia alba.
(I'm following the industry standard of listing the female first followed by the male.)
As last time, the female flowers had already opened, so I attempted the pollination anyway, and wrapped a ribbon around the flower to prevent any more visits by flying pollinators.
I was raised extremely conservatively... Seems wrong to throw out a perfectly good squash just because I have cut it open to get at the seeds. And as a plant breeder, I feel like it is my duty to taste every squash before saving seeds from it. I guess in theory, I could taste a small portion, but the two memes are working together to turn me into a huge squash from all the eating.