Seedless watermelon was first introduced in 1988 after 50 years of research. A seedless watermelon plant requires pollen from a seeded watermelon plant. Farmers frequently plant seeded and seedless plants close together and depend on bees to pollinate the seedless plants. The white “seeds,” also known as pods, found in seedless watermelons serve to hold a fertilized egg and embryo. Because a seedless melon is sterile and fertilization cannot take place, pods do not harden and become a black seed, as occurs in seeded watermelons.