Enhanced pollenizer and method for increasing seedless watermelon yield

Abstract

An enhanced, diploid pollenizer watermelon plant and method used to maximize the yield of triploid seedless watermelons per area. The enhanced pollenizer watermelon plant of the invention is either a hybrid variety, an open-pollinated variety or a synthetic variety, that exhibits the characteristics of small leaves and fruit with a brittle rind that splits when the fruit is overripe or breaks when relatively small physical forces are applied. The watermelon plant of the invention is also preferably characterized by extended flowering duration, thereby increasing the number of triploid watermelon flowers that are pollinated and set fruit. The method for producing a seedless watermelon fruit, includes the steps of providing a pollenizer diploid watermelon plant, extending the duration of flowering of the pollenizer plant while reducing the number of such plants needed to pollenize the same number of triploid watermelon plants, and maximizing dispersal of the pollenizer watermelon plant throughout the field of triploid watermelon plants.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 091,154, filed Mar. 5, 2002. The aforementioned application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention is in the field of watermelon breeding, specifically relating to diploid watermelons used to pollinate triploid watermelon plants for the commercial production of seedless watermelon fruit, and includes a novel method for the production of triploid watermelon fruit. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Watermelon is an important horticultural crop that accounts for 2% of the world area devoted to vegetable crops. There were 6,024,000 acres of watermelon grown in the world and 187,000 acres of watermelons grown in the United States in 1997 (FAO Production Yearbook 51, 1998). The estimated annual world watermelon value exceeded $7.6 billion when using the United States average price for 1995-1997. The United Stat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention uses a novel diploid watermelon to improve current methods of commercial production of seedless watermelon and to increase seedless watermelon yield. According to the invention, there is provided a novel enhanced, pollenizer diploid watermelon (hereinafter referred to as “enhanced pollenizer”) and method for pollinating seedless watermelon plants. The present invention includes an enhanced pollenizer comprising, at maturity, small leaves and bearing brittle fruits. The small leaves allow the enhanced pollenizer to be grown in close proximity to the triploid watermelon plants without competing with them, thereby increasing yields of seedless fruits. The brittleness of the fruit offers the advantage that unharvested fruits of the pollenizer can be easily destroyed through conventional field preparation for minimizing carry over as weeds in future plantings.

[0010] The enhanced pollenizer of the present invention preferably further comprises heavily branching lacy vines (also referred to as heavily branched open vines) and therefore preferably comprises a high number of open (lacy) branches. The leaves of the enhanced pollenizer also preferably comprise non-overlapping, deep lobes. The openness of the branched or lacy vine results, in part, from the distinct small and non-overlapping, deep lobed leaves. The lacy branches and the small leaves, preferably with non-overlapping, deep lobes, of the invention have the additional advantage to provide more access of bees to the flowers of both the pollenizing and the triploid plant, thereby enhancing transfer of the pollen from enhanced pollenizer watermelon to the female flowers of the triploid watermelon. Easier access by bees to the male flowers of the enhanced pollenizer and coupled with a greater frequency of male flowers provides a greater pollen source for triploid fruit production.

[0011] A second advantage of small leaves, preferably characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that more sunlight is able to penetrate to adjacent triploid plants. A third advantage of small leaves, preferably characterized by deep, non-overlapping lobes, is that these leaves take up less field area than the substantially larger leaves of the diploid pollenizers currently used in the production of seedless watermelon. Thus, as it is less competitive for light, water and fertilizers, the enhanced pollenizer of the present invention can also be grown closer to the triploid plants, and it does not need dedicated space to grow. When the enhanced pollenizer and method of the present invention are used, the triploid seedless watermelon are preferably grown in solid rows at a standard spacing, the enhanced pollinizer being then inter-planted between the plants within the rows. This results in significantly higher numbers of triploid plants per acre compared to the number of triploid watermelon plants that has traditionally been planted, and higher yields of seedless fruits.

Problems solved by technology

However, when this pollenizer is used, a lower total yield of marketable fruit is observed when compared to a commercial pollenizer line.

Also, the fruits of the pollenizer described in WO00 / 70933 that are not harvested become hosts for diseases in the future, and their seeds will germinate and grow into weeds, thus reducing future yields.

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