Your watermelon preference --seeded or seedless?

[zands]

I like seeded but they are harder to find every year. I had to drive to a Walmart further way to buy seeded.
With seedless it seems you get lots thicker rind so you are spending for what most people toss. Though you can pickle rinds. A watermelon is first cousin to cucumber. Rinds are very firm so good for pickling. Add some pro-biotic powder to your pickles for more bacteria diversity. These powders typically have 5 diff bacterial strains.

I juice all rinds with some whole limes and ginger root.

[johnb51]

I'm just not finding them with seeds anymore.  Do you think they have more flavor?

[CarolinaZone]

Yellow and with seeds. I buy my seeds online.

[spaugh]

Seeded of course.  Just planted out a bunch of watermelon plants.  Fingers crossed for a good crop. 

[zands]

I'm just not finding them with seeds anymore.  Do you think they have more flavor?

When you get a good one then seeded have more flavor and are more real. More heirloom even if they will not say. What's next, a seedless mango? I last saw seeded grapes five years ago. Now not ever.
Seedless watermelons are kinda freaks. They actually do have seeds but they are so tiny and watery you never notice. Seedless varieties are altered so that the seeds never grow into normal hard visible seeds that you must spit out as you eat. This was too much hassle for Americans sitting on their butts watching their 65" TVs
If you want seeded try a Walmart superstore in a black part of town. This works for me. My closest Walmart does not have seeded.

[fruitnut1944]

I buy mostly seedless. I just ate a slice. They're wet and refreshing, all I expect from a watermelon. My main complaint is some are too hard. The flesh is too hard. But that's better than a slightly over ripe seeded with soft mealy flesh.

I've grown a lot of varieties both seeded and seedless. The best of those, Star Brite, is seeded. It has large seeds and not too many. I'd much prefer seedless over seeded with what seems like thousands of small seeds, such as Sugar Baby. I'd much prefer seedless over any seeded that's over ripe. Seedless has a longer shelf life, a primary reason they dominate retail trade.

[johnb51]

I buy mostly seedless. I just ate a slice. They're wet and refreshing, all I expect from a watermelon. My main complaint is some are too hard. The flesh is too hard. But that's better than a slightly over ripe seeded with soft mealy flesh.

I've grown a lot of varieties both seeded and seedless. The best of those, Star Brite, is seeded. It has large seeds and not too many. I'd much prefer seedless over seeded with what seems like thousands of small seeds, such as Sugar Baby. I'd much prefer seedless over any seeded that's over ripe. Seedless has a longer shelf life, a primary reason they dominate retail trade.

That all makes sense, and interesting information.

[slopat]

Seeded!

1)  just eat the core first and give the rest to the chickens
2) if eating the seeds parts,  see the following link  for instructions

https://youtu.be/mAjaoY6hYKE

[forumfool]

Am I the only one who eats the seeds? My family spit them all out I swallow without chewing like passion fruit seeds

[W.]

My fruit mantra is no seeds = no flavor. Watermelons are just another example of that. I have never eaten a good, flavorful seedless watermelon nor a bad, flavorless seeded watermelon.

[Galatians522]

If you stop and ask the guys selling watermelons on the side of the road they usually have seeded melons, too (if they bought them straight out of the field). All watermelon fields have both seeded and seedless to my knowledge because the seedless melons do not polenate themselves well. Often, the seeded melons are left to rot in the field after harvest, so they can be had cheaply. That might also be why melons have gone from less then $5 to almost $10 in the past few years. Sigh!

[TonyinCC]

Seeded have better flavor by far.

Seedless are not really seedless, the seeds are just softer AND harder to remove. When you bite into them it changes the flavor. I don't like the cucumber like flavor notes the seeds add to a watermelon.

 Most of us have been cutting watermelons wrong our whole lives. If you cut a seeded watermelon properly, it can essentially be seedless.

1. Lay the watermelon on its side and cut off the ends.
2. Cut remainder of watermelon into 2-4 thick slices shaped like a round cake that will pretty much fill up a plate.
3 Cut thin wedges downwards radiating out from the middle about 1/2 to 2/3 inch thick as if you were cutting a round cake.
 
The knife will do most of the seeding as you cut, the majority of the rest will be exposed on the edges of the slice and can be removed just by rubbing the knife along the sides of the cut wedge. Adjust thickness of wedges based on size of watermelon to get uniformly seedless slices.
I get the better flavor and ability to take big bites out of a seedless but thin wedge of fruit.
 

[RodneyS]

I have planted Sugar Baby, in the past.  This season, I planted Golden Midget.  The rind turns yellow when ready to pick. 

Watermelon, and especially the juice of the rind, is high in L-Citrulline, precursor to L-Arginine, which is a vasodilator

[Malia]

Seeded. Do you also have the impression that even the seeded one got worse these days? Is it because farmers go for varieties with longer shelf life?

[fruitlovers]

I've yet to eat a really good seedless watermelon. Although i have to say that most of the seeded ones, though better, are not top of the line either. But i'm kind of a watermelon snob because i used to grow watermelons commercially. Unfortunately the watermelons that have taken over the main markets tend to be the worst of the lot, and are only favored because they have thick rinds that transport well without cracking. The situation is similar to Tommy Atkins becoming most popular commercial mango grown. To eat really excellent watermelons you have to go to an area where they are locally grown and eat ones that are not selected for international trade.

[Galatians522]

Seeded. Do you also have the impression that even the seeded one got worse these days? Is it because farmers go for varieties with longer shelf life?

Yes, I think its because most of the seeded melons available are simply the polenators for the seedless melons. They have been selected because of their high pollen production instead of their flavor. They are mostly considered disposable, and if they sell a few, well that is money in the bank.

[spaugh]

I've yet to eat a really good seedless watermelon. Although i have to say that most of the seeded ones, though better, are not top of the line either. But i'm kind of a watermelon snob because i used to grow watermelons commercially. Unfortunately the watermelons that have taken over the main markets tend to be the worst of the lot, and are only favored because they have thick rinds that transport well without cracking. The situation is similar to Tommy Atkins becoming most popular commercial mango grown. To eat really excellent watermelons you have to go to an area where they are locally grown and eat ones that are not selected for international trade.

whats your top few favorite varieties?

By the way, Im surprised people are debating the merits of seesless vs seeded etc from walmart or costco on a fruit forum.  Of course they are no good.  You need to grow your own for good ones. 

[johnb51]

Seeded have better flavor by far.

Seedless are not really seedless, the seeds are just softer AND harder to remove. When you bite into them it changes the flavor. I don't like the cucumber like flavor notes the seeds add to a watermelon.

 Most of us have been cutting watermelons wrong our whole lives. If you cut a seeded watermelon properly, it can essentially be seedless.

1. Lay the watermelon on its side and cut off the ends.
2. Cut remainder of watermelon into 2-4 thick slices shaped like a round cake that will pretty much fill up a plate.
3 Cut thin wedges downwards radiating out from the middle about 1/2 to 2/3 inch thick as if you were cutting a round cake.
 
The knife will do most of the seeding as you cut, the majority of the rest will be exposed on the edges of the slice and can be removed just by rubbing the knife along the sides of the cut wedge. Adjust thickness of wedges based on size of watermelon to get uniformly seedless slices.
I get the better flavor and ability to take big bites out of a seedless but thin wedge of fruit.

I used to just slice them, then break off the center part, and the seeds would sit at the break so they could easily be removed.  Then I'd eat the part near the rind and save the center until last because that was the sweetest part.  (I had to think about this because it's been a few years.)

[Francis_Eric]

Picture from here triploid water melons
https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/ww0503.htm#triploid
more here as well

I do not mind seeded water melons or grapes
had a good one from the Mexican store last `year with cardboard thin rind
It was on my couther for a while too
 -- I am guessing it was more local probably from A Southern IL or Indiana
this year the one I had was thick skin but low sugar
and the shell actually collasped under it's weight go figure I threw it out.

Do you read the sticker of the brand?

https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/hybrids1.htm

[Francis_Eric]

Do you ever roast the seeds ?
Edit why above image so small

[sapote]

Seeded: sweeter and more flavor.
Regardless seeded or seedless, you need to know how to select sweet and fresh melon.
Sweet: more sun and ripe, which means dark green with yellow stripes.
Fresh: high frequency sound, like hard wood when snap your finger on the melon rested against your ear. Low frequency means bruised or over-ripen. 
Uh oh, now I have more competition.

[Malia]

Sprouts supermarket is selling sugar baby seeded heirloom watermelons. At least in Florida. You can check them in your area, Sprouts usually has a similar assortment in various regions.

[beicadad]

Seeded ones for sure. I don’t grow myself, but I used to go to farmers market for seeded watermelons. Not only they are much sweeter and juicier, they are much softer too.

[slopat]

Come to think of it the best seeded ones are 'dry' farmed!!! Harvested at the right time they are Super sweet and crisp.

[zands]

I dug into a seeded watermelon today. Bought at Walmart. Weight 17lbs. The sweetness was well rounded and tasted more natural compared to a seedless one last week. I would classify the seedless one as more of a saccharine sweetness. Of course this did not stop it from getting eaten. Rind was less thick on the seeded so you get more watermelon for you money.

Seeded had a large yellow spot on the bottom. This is is an indication of ripeness. Though if you are unlucky you can get a mushy, over ripe one with this same nice yellow spot. Which sometimes is more a white spot than yellow/