V. M. Watts

Watermelon Breeder

Dr. Watts emphasized fruit quality and resistance to Fusarium wilt in watermelon breeding. The bulk of this breeding program was carried out at the Southwest Research and Extension Center at Hope. The program released two cultivars: 'Hope Diamond', which is a 'Black Diamond' type resistant to Fusarium wilt, and 'White Hope', which is a long, gray watermelon with good fruit quality and excellent resistance to Fusarium wilt. Unfortunately, it was released after 'Charleston Gray' was released by Dr. Fred Andrus of the USDA-ARS Vegetable Breeding laboratory, Charleston, S.C., and these two cultivars were very similar. 'Charleston Gray' went on to become the dominant watermelon cultivar in the United States.

The watermelon breeding program that was started by Dr. Watts was not continued after he retired in 1968. One contribution of the program was the discovery of a glabrous seedling in a population of irradiated watermelons. This seedling was also male sterile. The genetics were investigated by several watermelon breeders in other states as a potential tool to produce hybrid watermelon, but the male sterile trait was never commercially utilized because of associated problems with fruit quality.