What is the difference between male and female watermelon?

In this brief article we will answer the question,”What is the difference between male and female watermelon?”, and discuss how watermelons are produced, along with the difference between male and female watermelon flowers, and how to know if the watermelon is sweet.

What is the difference between male and female watermelon?

The difference between male and female watermelon is that, male watermelons are large and oblong in shape and the female watermelons are small and round.

Male watermelons are more watery than female watermelons, and female watermelons have a sweeter taste than male watermelons. 

Female watermelons have a larger black spot on the side opposite the stem of the watermelon plant than males. Female watermelon species go through sexual reproduction to produce seed. 

Some believe that there is nothing called as male or female watermelon. The doubt still remains that this topic is not explored by many.

How are watermelons produced?

Watermelons are produced from watermelon plants which either produce male or female flowers.They are monoecious which means that male and female flowers are present on a single plant. 

What is the difference between male and female watermelon flowers?

The difference between male and female watermelon flowers is that female flowers have a bulge that appears like a small watermelon which is actually the flower’s ovary. The male flowers of the watermelon plant start to appear 10 days before the female flowers. 

The bees and other pollinators pollinate the ovary which then grows as a watermelon. Once the ovary grows to the size of a golf ball, and if pollination is successful, a full sized watermelon develops within 35 days. Most varieties of watermelon take at least 50 days to be ready to be harvested from the plant. These 50 days start from the time the first flowers start to appear. 

Male watermelons do not possess these ovaries. The male flower connects to the vine directly. The role of the male flowers is only for pollination and when this happens, the flowers drop off from the plant.  

It is also said that male water melon fruits are formed by the male plant parts the male flowers) or by the male reproductive areas of watermelon plants. This however might not be true.

Another myth that follows is that some watermelons contain seeds that can grow into male watermelon plants. This part also lacks some evidence. 

Watermelons originate from the female flower and are developed into fruits. These fruits have no gender and no sexual parts. 

How do you know if the watermelon is sweet?

  1. The spot where the watermelon is laid on the ground is white or the white stripes can be seen, it means that the watermelon is not fully ripe. These spots should be golden in colour and the stripes should not be visible.
  2. Smaller symmetrically round watermelons are sweeter than larger ones.
  3. If the watermelon is heavy for its size, it is sweet and ripe.
  4. The stem of the watermelon should be dry and not green and pliable for it to be ripe and sweet.
  5. A low pitch sound when the thumb is whacked on the watermelon is considered to be an ideal watermelon.
  6. When cut, the seeds inside should be dark brown, almost black and should be of a good size. This represents that the watermelon was not removed before ripening from vines.
  7. If the watermelons are of a variety that contains no seeds, the seeds that’ll be present will eventually be small, white and immature.
  8. The more webbed a watermelon is, the sweeter it is. Webbing is the term used to describe a brown course web like substance which appears during pollination by bees and scarring of the membranes that later form the fruit.
  9. If there is more pollination, the watermelon will be more and more sweet. If some black hard globs are seen it represents the presence of sugar and not rotting.

Other FAQs about Watermelon that you may be interested in.

What is the difference between male and female watermelon?

What makes watermelon sweet?

What are the yellow spots on watermelon?

What happens if you eat too much watermelon?

Conclusion

In this brief article we answered the question,”What is the difference between male and female watermelon?”, and discussed how watermelons are produced, along with the difference between male and female watermelon flowers, and how to know if the watermelon is sweet.

References

https://thepoolgardener.com/male-vs-female-watermelons-which-sex-reigns-supreme/

https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/11104/are-there-male-and-female-watermelon-fruits

https://medium.com/@LumpyBatter/how-to-pick-the-perfect-watermelon-dd094fca1c5