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Publication #Cir 1440

 

New Plants for Florida: Watermelon1

Don Maynard2

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FAES leased a tract of land near Leesburg, Florida in 1930 for watermelon research. Emphasis in the early years of the program was resistance to Fusarium wilt, and many crosses and selections were made with the objective of developing new, wilt-resistant varieties. One of the most successful crosses, Hawkesbury WR x Leesburg, was made in 1936. Selections from this cross were made available to many watermelon breeders. One of the selections, designated Florida Seedling 124, has been recognized as the source of high-level resistance to wilt in Calhoun Gray, Summit, and Calhoun Sweet. Four other varieties with high-level resistance to wilt, Smokylee, Verona, Whitehope, and Texas W5, also have Hawkesbury and Leesburg in their genealogy. Lines incorporating anthracnose and Fusarium wilt resistance were distributed widely to other breeders; hence, Florida lines are found in the genealogy of many of the watermelon varieties currently grown throughout the world.

From 1952 to 1961, evaluation of materials on hand from previous breeders and searches for accessions that might have value for future breeding purposes were principle activities. During this period, Jubilee was developed by J.M. Crall from selections made in soils heavily infested with the Fusarium wilt fungus, and it remained an important variety in the southeastern United States for over 30 years.

High-level wilt resistance was identified during the early 1960s in several varieties, and crosses were made to combine this resistance with anthracnose resistance (race 1) and other characters desirable in a high-quality, shipping-type watermelon. Smokylee, Dixielee, and Sugarlee resulted from this program.

Another facet of watermelon breeding was the development of small-fruited varieties, also called icebox watermelons, with round, gray, 8- to-15-pound fruit. Mickylee and Minilee were introduced in 1986 by Crall from this program. Mickylee is still being grown 20 years later. A seedless (triploid) breeding program was initiated in 1985 by G.W. Elmstrom and culminated in the release of Flordalee III and Merrilee III in 1994.

For more information about Watermelon varieties, see the following EDIS publications:

HS725 Cucurbit Production in Florida

HS 687 Growing Seedless Watermelon

Missing table (TABLE_1_DOCUMENT_XX107)

Tables

Table 1. 

Watermelon varieties developed by FAES.

Type

Variety

Date of Release
Diploids (Seeded) Leesburg

1936

  Blacklee

1944

  Ironsides

1950

  Jubilee

1963

  Smokylee

1971

  Dixielee

1979

  Sugarlee

1981

  Charlee, Mickylee, Minilee

1986

  Jubilee II

1990

Triploids (Seedless) Flordalee III, Merrilee III

1994

Footnotes

1.

This document is part of Circular 1440, a publication of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the Agronomy Department and IFAS Communication Services, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date August 2003. Reviewed February 2009. Originally published as a booklet by IFAS Communication Services June 2003. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Don Maynard, Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, Gulf Coast REC--Bradenton, FL. Circular 1440 is edited by Richard L. Jones, Mary L. Duryea, and Berry J. Treat, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Richard L. Jones, Dean for Research, publishes this information to further programs and related activities, available to all persons regardless of race, color, age, sex, disability or national origin. Information about alternate formats is available from IFAS Communication Services, University of Florida, PO Box 110810, Gainesville, FL 32611-0810.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.