Doss

Light green, elongated watermelon with rosey-pink flesh. Rind has a fine, darker green netting pattern. Fruit 13-17 inches long, 6-9 inches in diameter, and 13-20lbs. Flavor is sweet and juicy with a crisp but slightly stringy texture. Good average watermelon. BRIX was 10.0 in 2020 at Heritage Farm trials. Medium-thin rind. Seeds are white with tan tips. Slightly below-average productivity. The variety is a community heirloom grown in Jackson and Lavaca County, Texas for nearly 130 years. Mark Peyton of Edna, Texas, received the variety from James ("Jimmy") Jansky, a friend who has grown this variety since the early 1950s. Jimmy received the seeds from his father, the late Victor Leon Jansky, who received it from his friend Tildon Doss. The Doss family got this variety around 1890 when they allowed a traveler from Alabama to stay for a night at their home outside of Ezzell, Texas. Upon leaving, the traveler gave the family an unnamed variety of watermelon. The watermelon proved to grow well in the farm’s sandy soil, and it quickly became known by the community as the ‘Doss’ watermelon. Mark Peyton donated seeds to SSE in 2019. SSE Accession # 133646