In a message dated 5/18/00 6:40:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Bob Fanning wrote:
>> Do Parthenocarpic fruits require pollination?   I know, in
> the
>  > case of "seedless" watermelons, Parks Seed Co. recommends a pollinator be
>  > planted with the "seedless" melons.

   Park Seed Co. needs to get their act together (tell 'em, Bob!). The
pollinators for seedless melons are bees. They are talking about pollenizers,
plants to supply viable pollen.  I'm always suspicious of "experts" who don't
even know the basic terminology of their field....

>          For the most part, parthenocarpic fruits do require pollination.
In
> the
>  case of seedless waermelons, the recommendation is for twice as many
>  colonies as you would expect for seeded varieties.

    Ummmm, Thom, you are talking about triploid melons, not parthenocarpy,
here. And, as you say, you need more bees to do the job. Triploid melons have
sterile pollen, and another compatible watermelon variety with viable pollen
(the pollenizer) is needed, plus you need a lot more bee visits in the
flower....

   But parthenocarpic plants do not need any pollination, in fact is often a
detriment to get pollination, as with the seedless English cucumbers which
are grown in greenhouses or under row covers to avoid pollination. If
pollinated, they are apt to be bitter, or at least have a lot of coarse
seeds.  Some figs are parthenocarpic, as well.

   Parthenocarpy is a defect in the wild, but man has occasionally found a
mutation with the defect, and maintained it for his own purposes. It is a
defect because the plant now more or less needs man's aid to reproduce.

   Some plants can have both normal pollination and/or parthenocarpy, as with
some citrus. The more pollination, the more seeds.  Actually, I prefer a
seedy grapefruit, as I usually find it sweeter....

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com