The Types of Watermelons
It is thought that watermelons originated in Africa and were cultivated in Egypt and India as far back as 2500 B.C. They came to America in the early 17th century and were first cultivated by settlers in Massachusetts in 1629. A cousin to the cucumber, the watermelon is actually a vegetable and can grow to as big as 100 lbs. There are four basic types of watermelons, which come in an wide array of varieties. Does this Spark an idea?
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Seedless
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Seedless watermelons are hybrid vegetables that are self-sterile. The seeds to grow them are developed by crossing normal watermelons with ones that have been changed genetically. When pollinated by normal watermelon plants, they produce the seedless melons. Seed production for this type is a labor-intensive process, which makes the seeds relatively expensive. Seedless varieties weigh between 6 and 26 lbs. and include Golden Crown, Sugar Baby, Crimson Sweet, Cotton Candy, Honey Hart and Jack of Hearts.
Picnic
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Introduced in 1972, the picnic watermelon is a rare heirloom variety of the vegetable. It has an oval shape with a dark green vine. It's a very sweet melon with dark red flesh, small black seeds and weighs between 8 and 14 lbs. This variety is resistant to the fursarium wilt disease.
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Icebox
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Icebox watermelons are so named because of their smaller size and ability to fit neatly into a refrigerator. They tend to weight between 6 and 12 lbs. They generally have red flesh, but also come in the yellow/orange type as well. There are more than 47 varieties of icebox watermelons including Baby Doll, Bambino, Little Boy, Ultra Cool and Yellow Doll.
Yellow/Orange
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Yellow watermelons are green on the outside, but have a yellow flesh, thin rind and are sweeter than traditional red-fleshed watermelons. They come from the Citrullus lanatus plant. The most common variety is the Yellow Crimson, which is grown in the United States and Mexico. Mexican yellow watermelons are available year-round, but are produced in the U.S. between May and October.
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References
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