Anyway, this is what we found on a couple of the melons we brought in. Perfect target circles.
The only information I could find was from the Extension at Purdue:
"Target Cluster (watermelon)
This disorder is marked by very striking target-like patterns that occur on the watermelon rind surface. The target spots appear in distinct clusters and can be as large as 1 inch in diameter (Figure 81). The target rings have a corky texture and are slightly raised (1/16 inch) from the fruit surface. No decay was associated with symptomatic fruit. Several attempts at identifying pathogenic bacteria or viruses were not successful. Fruit with the target cluster apparently occur very infrequently. Incidence and distribution in affected fields suggest that it was not responsible for any economic consequences.
http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/BP/BP-44.html"
See? Aliens.
While I'm at it, I picked one of the few purple carrots that actually grew this year.
4 comments:
I knew it! The cats are really aliens, come to take over the planet.
I've never heard of a purple carrot. Do they taste the same?
Yup, taste the same. I did learn somewhere that carrots were originally (domestic, not wild although the wild may have been too) purple or called black and/or yellow and that as they moved east they mutated to orange and perhaps were even culitvated by the French and/or Dutch to be more orange or have more beta carotene (this is where my memory gets fuzzy).
What a weird post! I've never heard of (nor seen) anything like that on any watermelon and I've never heard of (nor seen) a purple carrot. I'm one of those picky eaters that has to have things a certain way or I won't eat it. No matter what. Purple carrot would fall into that category :)
Hi,
I found some watermelons at the market like yours a couple years ago and was equally excited and curious. It turns out it's a cucurbit virus called watermelon mosaic virus. You can read my post about it here: watermelon mosaic virus.
-steve
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