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Deep South, USA

I have a few questions about female melon flowers.

Does each lobe on the female part of the flower (pistil)
connect to its own lobe within the melon?

If the above is the case, does that explain how uneven or inadequate distribution of pollen between the lobes can cause shape problems with the fruit?

Is a certain part of the pistil connected to one end of the
ovary (melon) or the other?

7/7/2011 5:39:52 PM

formerly RGG

The pistil transports a pollen grain to each individual seed within the ovary to make it fertile. I think there are no lobes or sections within the fruit. Of course the pistil is connected to the ovary; otherwise it would not be able to transport pollen into it.I don't think uneven pollination has a lot to do with uneven fruit growth. I remember Chris saying he got few seeds out of his 291 and yet it was a very nicely shaped melon.

7/7/2011 9:38:54 PM

sevierville, Tn

The 291 had a good seed count. There are alot of things that can cause poor shape, poor pollination being only one. Sprays damage on unpolinated or young fruit, sun burn, missformed females, uneven growing area, poor plant health.

7/7/2011 10:19:38 PM

Deep South, USA

I understood that the pistil connected to the ovary, but I didn't know if there was any specific configuration of that connection as far as the lobes were concerned.

When I culled a couple of young melons last year, I cut a cross section to see what they looked like. I thought I might have seen an indication of sections at the flesh/rind border, but it may not be what I thought it was.

I've noticed growers using sand under the young melons, I presume that is partly to give them a pliable surface to grow on, hopefully reducing shape problems.

If an open pollinated Carolina Cross female is pollinated by both a Carolina Cross, and say, Charleston Gray, will some of the offspring seeds in the resulting melon be [CC x CC], and the others in that same melon [CC x Charleston Gray]?

7/7/2011 11:10:30 PM

Deep South, USA

It's a bit off topic, but I forgot to add that I will probably get some sand for the melons soon.

7/7/2011 11:12:22 PM

formerly RGG

Sure Yoshi, it is entirely possible to have seeds pollinated from multiple males in the same melon. Even a human female can possibly carry twins from 2 different fathers.It's rare and distasteful but nevertheless possible.

7/7/2011 11:23:06 PM

Deep South, USA

Ah yes, fraternal twins. Since plants aren't people, I wasn't sure if it worked in the plant world, but it makes sense. I hope it's okay if I wander off topic for a minute.

Year before last, I had Moon and Stars in the patch. If you're not familiar with it, the sub-variety i planted has yellow speckles on the melon and the leaves. Well, I let them open pollinate with my CC's and kept some of the seeds to see what would happen. The moon and stars was the female.

Late last year I tried planting it and waiting to see what the plant (and maybe fruit) looked like. It got far enough for me to see the same yellow speckles on the plants first true leaves. I pretty much assumed it was pure M&S. In light of the multiple fathers consideration, that was a mistake. I have no idea of any or the seeds parentage.

That makes closed pollination seem even more important. It's not simply that the offspring might not be pure, but you would not be able to tell which seed had which parentage.

I've only really experimented with gardening in the last few years, so I don't have as much common sense when it comes to plants as I should. :|

Getting back closer in line with the topic, about how many seeds should one expect from a properly pollinated Carolina Cross melon?

7/8/2011 12:25:56 AM

Deep South, USA

I should have said "offspring might be pure otherwise," English is not my strong suit either, it seems.

7/8/2011 12:28:13 AM

Muddy Waters

600-900 seeds

7/8/2011 5:55:15 AM