tiny seeded melon

[Dominic J]

Where do you all get your tetraploid seeds?

[Lauren]

I found the tiny watermelon seeds. They look fat and healthy to me. Don't know whether they're viable or not. I'm going to grow them and see if they sprout.

For size, the tag to the left is the size of my finger tip.

[Dominic J]

Does look like at least some of them should germinate.

[Adrian]

A little seed of watermelon have less reserv of nutrient for germinate.
She is more sensitive and less vigorous than a big seed if she germinate in a bad conditions?

[Andrew Barney]

So I was checking out a new farmers market for a potential new place to sell. I bought a watermelon from a Nepalese guy, got home opened it up and thought it was a seedless. Upon further inspection I found it wasn't seedless, but had miniature seeds, about as many as a average melon would have. The melon was beautiful and sweet and about the size of a sugarbaby. When eating it you cannot tell the is even any seeds in there they are that small.
I remember seeing a tiny seeded melon on 2seeds in a pod website for sale, but assumed the melon itself would be very small so never pursued it. It's called "tiny seeded south American" the pictures on the website look pretty similar to the melon I bought.
These would be great for a "seedless" variety but with seeds that you can select and breed quite easy.
Has anybody had anything to do with this melon?

Still interested in this. Just emailed a professor from North Carolina University to see if he knows any accession numbers.

He was very helpful a month back when I asked about citron melon accessions with non-lobed leaves. I now have seeds for a domestic watermelon mutant that has non-lobed leaves. I believe breeding for non-lobed leaves may be advantageous in temperate climates with short seasons to maximize solar energy capture. Lobed leaves are probably adapted for severe drought conditions (something not experienced on the average farm).

[Dominic J]

A little seed of watermelon have less reserv of nutrient for germinate.
She is more sensitive and less vigorous than a big seed if she germinate in a bad conditions?

Yea, tiny seeds sounds like something I'd love to have on hand, but overall I'd tend to be more inclined to breed for large seeds.

[Andrew Barney]

The professor did not know of any with the ts gene (though historically it is derived from a Sugar Baby mutant).

But he did mention the variety "Jenny" is often used as a seedless watermelon pollinator and has very small seeds.

https://www.weseeds.com/jenny-hybrid-watermelon-seeds-p-2646.html

[Jeremy Weiss]

My Costa Rican Thin Rind watermelon has pretty small seeds, but then again it is a pretty small melon (baseball sized at it's maximum)

[Andrew Barney]

My Costa Rican Thin Rind watermelon has pretty small seeds, but then again it is a pretty small melon (baseball sized at it's maximum)

This thin rind trait sounds interesting. In my citron- melon project I had a segregate that had extremely thin rind /skin. Unfortunately I had a crop failure when I tried to grow that line out. I have a picture in the citron hybrid thread.

If it is similar,  any chance to obtain some seed?

[Jeremy Weiss]

Not right now. I only got one melon that time so I only have a handful of seed (plus with only one plant, the stuff is REALLY inbred). I'm planning to cross it with Silver Yamato to try and get the diversity back up. After that, who knows.

[Dominic J]

Premium and Polimax are both said to be super small seeded, here: https://www.nunhems.com/us/en/Varieties/WMW_watermelon.html