your favorite potato leaf varieties?

[west by goddess]

skaggydog i don't know. i'm probably wrong but i associate them with sloppy, floppy, juicy appalachian tomatoes. they seem old fashioned to me. the first i grew was LILLIAN'S YELLOW HEIRLOOM and i was startled by the leaves. again, i don't know, i guess the same reason i like lime green or frank zappa. just personal.

good question.
angie

[WVTomatoMan]

I guess my favorite varieties would be Brandywine, Stump of the World, and Trees Bottom Yellow (prejudice).

Nobody asked me, but I'm drawn to PL because they're different (maybe I'm a recessive kind of guy) and it just seems like many PLs produce fine tasting tomatoes.

Randy

[tjg911]

add brandywine sudduth's to my prior post in this thread. i finally got a ripe one to eat today and it was really excellent. reminds me of earl's faux as far as texture and flavor but it's been several years since i grew ef but it does remind me of it. in the 2 seasons i grew brandywine, and i'm not sure if it was the sudduth's strain but it was pink pl, the plant was short and had very few tomatoes. i think the taste was good one year but so so the other, it's been over 15 years so i can't recall that's why i grew it again this year. looks like there's another tomato that made it into my favorites list.

tom

[WVTomatoMan]

I don't recall any one mentioneding it, but Kimberley (aka Kimberly) is a nice little PL variety. Good flavor for such an early tomato.

Randy

[PA_Julia]

Thus far my favorite is Uncle Mark Bagby.


Julia

[Karla]

My favorite is Fred Limbaughs PL variety.

[Ken4230]

We have always grown primarily German tomatoes. This heat is going to force me to grow more PL plants and quit pruning.

Uncle Mark Bagby
Lillian's Yellow Heirloom
Lincoln-Adams
F. Limbaughs PL. and others have been on my 2013 grow list for over a month.

It's a good thing to see them as someone's favorite.

Ken

[jennifer28]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

How many different Brandywines did you try before you settled on those? What do you like about them specifically, compared to other Brandywines? I think I like Brandywine the best for flavor, and I want to try them all. But it would be easier to start with other peoples' picks. Thanks.

Also, what traits do the PL varieties share in common? Or do they not have anything in common besides the leaves?

I know you were asking Camo this question but he put me on to cowlicks brandywine. I LOVE it. I find it grows more vigorously and sets more fruit.

He also recommended dana's dusky rose and purple dog creek. I havent tried those yet but I am really looking forward to trying them next year.

[camochef]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

How many different Brandywines did you try before you settled on those? What do you like about them specifically, compared to other Brandywines? I think I like Brandywine the best for flavor, and I want to try them all. But it would be easier to start with other peoples' picks. Thanks.

Also, what traits do the PL varieties share in common? Or do they not have anything in common besides the leaves?

After spending years growing Brandywines and similar types including Brandywine crosses and similar varieties, I've settled on these as my favorites.This year has been an exceptional year here for Brandywines.

While Liz Birt (a Brandywine/Cherokee Purple cross) was the first to ripen for me here, it was followed shortly by Barlow Jap, which I still suspect to be related somehow to the Brandywine Family. within the week they were joined by Cowlick's Brandywine, both the original potato leafed and the later discovery by Jon in Ala. the regular leafed.
Bear Creek was also a day or so behind, (another Brandywine/Cherokee Purple cross). The following week saw Brandywine-Glick's then Brandywine Sudduths yielding large ripe slicers with outstanding tastes.
So it's taste first, then production that brings them and similar varieties to my "favorites" listings. Over the years I've grown every type of Brandywine I could find. Some are great, others not so much.
There's nothing wrong with the likes of Yellow Brandywine or even Red Brandywine, (which I really don't consider to be a Brandwine at all), but Black Brandywines are too unstable to depend on year to year. (Both leaf type and fruit type are extrmely inconsistant). I've never had much luck with growing Brandywine-OTV. Could just be a locale thing, or perhaps I tried them only on bad years. Purple Brandywines were OK, but not enough to make it into my gardens as I cut back from hundreds of tomatoes each year to only 23 this year. (getting too old for large gardens anymore).
Besides taste and production, one has to consider disease resistance. I like some that are similar to Brandywines in taste and even somewhat in production, but just don't do well in my gardens as far as early blight and/or septoria. Limbaugh's Legacy Potato Leaf and Stump of the World are two that immediatly come to mind.
Earls Faux is one that made it this year and has done well, but on a whole doesn't produce quite as well as the true Brandywines. Cowlick's has always been the best producer in the gardens for years now, but the R.L. from Jon does better most years, lately. Brandywine-Glicks has always produced about as well and some years even better than the Cowlicks. Brandywine Sudduths has usually been a little less productive, but this year is putting out pound to pound and a half beauties like nobody's business.
German Johnson-Benton strain has produced some nice large tomatoes that are really meaty and delicious, but it's the grafted German Johnson-Benton strain thats really been mind blowing this season. It grew faster and larger than anything out there. It's put on more tomatoes than any slicer in the garden. (we're not counting the Kumato which is more like a large sized cherry tomato). There taste is outstanding! And the size...Unbelievable!
Now this doesn't mean that varieties like Purple Dog Creek, (which I gave the #1 ranking to last year), isn't something special, cause it is. It's just this is one of those delightful Brandywine years here. Other large producers have been Terhune, which showed great improvement this year over last years showing. Daniels has also shown considerable improvement although it was the last slicer to ripen in my garden. It also seems more like a determinate this year instead of an indeterminate.
The only real disappointment in my gardens this season has been Delicious. It was loaded with tomatoes but the largest was about 3-4 oz. Normally I would have pulled it, but its a great decoy for the birds that love to sit on the cages and peck at anything showing color. Not so much with the dark tomatoes like Amazon Chocolate and Bear Creek, but anything showing pink or red is a target.
Now the final statement: What does well here in southern Pa. may not perform as well elsewhere as weather and soil conditions vary from one locale to another, so I recommend finding what performs best for you where your at and concentrating on those varieties. I know I got caught up in the trying every variety game for a few years, looking for those that are best. Then realized what does great this year may not perform quite as well next year. Also learned that you have to try the same variety for more than one or two seasons to determine how well it can do. With that said, I wish you much luck and enjoyment in the search for what will become your favorite tomato. The best information I can offer, decide for yourself what you really like, and once found, stick with it!
Enjoy!
Camo

[camochef]

Originally Posted by jennifer28

I know you were asking Camo this question but he put me on to cowlicks brandywine. I LOVE it. I find it grows more vigorously and sets more fruit.

He also recommended dana's dusky rose and purple dog creek. I havent tried those yet but I am really looking forward to trying them next year.

Jennifer28,
I'm glad you like the Cowlicks Brandywine. Which are you growing? The original potato leafed of mine, or Jon's regular leafed. There isn't a great deal of difference in taste, but the past few year I'm finding that Jon's r.l. produces better early on and my p.l. does better towards the end of the season.

I'm certain you'll love both DDR and PDC and I'll add what is certainly going to be this years winner...Dana's German Johnson-Benton Strain. I'm having the best results with mine which is grafted onto Maxifort rootstock from Johnny's select seeds and has been really impressive, but the German Johnson-Benton strain from seed is also doing a spectacular job of producing large meaty tomatoes, maybe not as many but still...

Wishing you the very best and much success in your gardens!
Enjoy!
Camo

[Cole_Robbie]

Thank you very much for the detailed reply, Camo. That helps me out a lot. I am particularly intrigued by your positive results with grafted Brandywines, as that was my plan for next year. I was going to try eggplant as root stock, but I might be smarter to just copy what the seed companies do and use their tomato root stocks. I suppose they would be grafting to eggplant if that worked better.