Serendipity35

The photo here isn't new. It illustrated a number of news articles back in 2001 about these unusual square watermelons. It's not genetic engineering. They were inserting developing melons into glass cases.

Is it all for style, or is it at all practical? As with many other practices in Japan, lack of space is a real issue that needs to be addressed. A fat, round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator, and round melons roll around on the refrigerator shelves. It's easier to pack, transport and store squared melons.

Farmers insert the melons into square, tempered-glass boxes while the fruit is still growing on the vine. The square boxes are based on the dimensions of Japanese refrigerators, allowing fully-grown watermelons to fit conveniently and precisely onto refrigerator shelves.

It's extra work, and you pay. Square watermelons cost 10,000 yen (about $82 USD) while regular watermelons in Japan cost about $20 USD.

I have always heard that fish in a tank will grow larger or smaller depending on the size of environment they are given. Bigger tank, bigger fish. I'm not sure this is completely true or at least partially urban legend. Would a baby Great White Shark be a dwarf if I could keep it alive in a 100 gallon tank? How big will a guppy get in a 100 gallon tank?

Or is it like bonsai? Bonsai are not genetically-dwarfed plants. They are created from nearly any tree or shrub species and remain small through pot confinement and crown and root pruning.

I am fairly confident that as institutions and as teachers, we have the ability to create square melons and dwarf juniper trees in our classrooms by keeping the classroom small, and keeping the roots and crowns from reaching for the sky & light above and the things our students seek below that nourish them. I wish you the worst of luck in doing so.