Best of the potato-leaf varieties?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by indigosand

Wow, overwhelmed with information but in a good way! LOL I'm looking all these up. A nice purple would be great... I didn't have good luck with "carbon" last year.

I believe what I have is sudduth's strain. I've collected seed from this same plant so many years in row that I can't be sure anymore. It's amazing. I cooked burgers and made BLT's in honor of a freshly picked beauty many times last summer. LOL They are too good not to savor. I only wish the branches were a bit stronger. I had quite a few snap off from the sheer weight of a fruit set last year. If anyone has suggestions for that, I'm all ears.

Has anyone grown the one I keep coming across simply named "yellow brandywine"? Can you compare it to other yellows? I have dr. wyche's this year.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Above is a link to Yellow Brandywine and if you look at the seed sources that should answer your question as to how popular it is b'c the list of vendors selling this variety is long indeed.

And yes, I've grown it as well as Yellow Brandywine ( Platfoot) which I named since it was for me, and many others, smoother than the original and was an all around better plant, etc.

Yellow Brandywine, original source not known, was first introduced to an SSE Yearbook by Barbara Lund of OH many many years ago and she had received seeds of it from Charlie Knoy of Indiana.

My seeds for the Platfoot one were received from Gary Platfoot of OH.

Most varieties that have yellow as part of the variety name have fruits that turn gold at maturity, and that's true of YB as well as the Dr. Wyche one you're also growing.

Knowing that in the tomato world , as I sad above, most varieties with yellow as part of the variety name have fruits that mature to gold, in addition to the two above which I think are excellent I'd add:

Aunt Gertie's Gold
Kellogg's Breakfast and the PL version KBX
Elfie
Golden Queen
Dixie Golden Giant

...... to name just a few large fruited ones that come to mind ASAP that could be compared with Yellow Brandywine.

Color perception is just that and not everyone sees colors the same for a varietyof reasons,so some would use deep orange or whatever to describe some of the above.

Finally, the three major colored heirloom Brandywines are the pink, red and yellow ( gold) and there's no connection between them.

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by travis

Jere Gettle's Cherokee Purple Potato Leaf was found in a garden in Missouri and is not the same as Spudakee which was found in a garden in Ohio.

Correct.

I guess I should have said that Spudakee was named by Bill, but "found" its way into his potato leaf collection, and not that it was found by him personally.

Carolyn

[Alpinejs]

Too many great potato leafs to endorse so I will only single out KBX, Earl's Faux and Rebel
Yell. Ate my first Rebel Yell yesterday and it was fabulous and now on my "must grow" list.

[travis]

A couple of things about "Yellow Brandywine" specifically, and generally about yellow tomatoes that appear orange or gold.

Charlie Knoy has passed on. I once called a close relative of Charlie Knoy who told me Mr. Knoy grew many tomatoes that he "bought at local hardware stores." I don't know if that helps in any way to determine the original source of "Yellow Brandywine" which closely resembles other named varieties (some also from Indiana) that have different names, none of which contain "Brandywine" in their name. And no one seems to be able to tell whether Mr. Knoy used the word "Brandywine" when he gave seeds to Barbara Lund, or whether she was in fact the first person to apply the name "Brandywine" to what we now call Yellow Brandywine.

Second thing, many of the tomatoes that people say appear orange or gold at full ripe condition in fact are expressing a fruit flesh color influenced by the tangerine gene "t" which gives a color distinct from the "r" yellow flesh gene.

I grow a clear epidermis KBX line that clearly exhibits the "t" tangerine genetics comparable for example to Carolina Gold (F1), Jubilee (op), and the variety Tangerine (which is the source of the tangerine gene used to breed Jubilee which in turn is in the pedigree for Carolina Gold.

When you view the KBX that I speak of, in full ripe condition, you can clearly see the beautiful tangerine coloration both from the outside, thru the clear epidermis, and even more clearly when you slice the tomato open. This special hue of yellow/orange is not seen in typical "r" gene, yellow fleshed tomatoes. Observation of the difference may help when trying to determine the relationship of several of the potato leaf "yellows" that often look the same in casual observation, but in fact are not the same in detail.

There's more to the "Yellow Brandywine" story than has ever been told, I suspect. But the sources of the truth are unavailable at this late date.

However, the original question was favorite PL varieties, and the reason I named KBX as a "yellow" or in fact "tangerine" selection is that it is truly beautiful, both the plant and the fruit, and produces far more tomatoes than Yellow Brandywine, with an excellent flavor that I believe to be a result of the tangerine genetics in combination with the clear skin genetics (which is known to influence flavor favorably).

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by travis

Jere Gettle's Cherokee Purple Potato Leaf was found in a garden in Missouri and is not the same as Spudakee which was found in a garden in Ohio.

I grew regular leaf CP and Spudakee side by side this year, and I didn't grow CP PL. I can say that CP reg. leaf is for sure not the same as Spudakee. Different shape, taste and disease tolerances, vigor of growth too.
Both are very tasty.
Marsha

[indigosand]

Carolyn that's interesting, so between the different Brandywines there's no genetic connection? It's the taste I find myself drawn to. The few potato leaf varieties I've grown seem to have a richness I haven't found in anything else yet. Even the birds agree. They bypassed most of my tomato rows last year to fight me for the ripening Brandywines.

Thanks Travis, for the comparison. I imagine I would be partial to KBX as well, it is on my grow list for next year. I'm searching for a good yellow that isn't too mild or mushy. Too many IMO are far too much of both.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by indigosand

Wow, overwhelmed with information but in a good way! LOL I'm looking all these up. A nice purple would be great... I didn't have good luck with "carbon" last year.

I believe what I have is sudduth's strain. I've collected seed from this same plant so many years in row that I can't be sure anymore. It's amazing. I cooked burgers and made BLT's in honor of a freshly picked beauty many times last summer. LOL They are too good not to savor. I only wish the branches were a bit stronger. I had quite a few snap off from the sheer weight of a fruit set last year. If anyone has suggestions for that, I'm all ears.

Has anyone grown the one I keep coming across simply named "yellow brandywine"? Can you compare it to other yellows? I have dr. wyche's this year.

I am growing Yellow Brandywine this year for the first time. So for the flavor of the fruit I cant answer. But the seedlings are vigorous and doing well. Not the most vigorous but well above average. I'll find out eventually how the flavor compares with other yellows and post when it happens. Growing several yellows this year to try and find one I can go with year after year in this climate. Last year I grew Golden Jubilee. Good production and hardiness, but too mild for my tastes.

[travis]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I grew regular leaf CP and Spudakee side by side this year, and I didn't grow CP PL. I can say that CP reg. leaf is for sure not the same as Spudakee. Different shape, taste and disease tolerances, vigor of growth too.
Both are very tasty.
Marsha

Marsha, I agree 100% completely :::smile:::

I too have never grown Jere's CP PL. But I have grown Spudakee side-by-side with Cherokee Purple (RL) several times, and for the purpose of observation and use to collect or apply pollen in crosses. They are not the same animal.

Spudakee sets fruit sooner, more completely, and lower on the plant. The fruit ripen to a lighter finished tint. And number of fruit per truss generally is greater on Spudakee, and the fruit size is more consistent.

Cherokee Purple (RL) for me has been a more compact and more bushy plant than Spudakee which will overtop a six foot cage, droop eventually back down almost to the ground, and in late season put on a huge flush of final fruit load, contrary to my experience with Cherokee Purple.

[travis]

Originally Posted by indigosand

Thanks Travis, for the comparison. I imagine I would be partial to KBX as well, it is on my grow list for next year. I'm searching for a good yellow that isn't too mild or mushy. Too many IMO are far too much of both.

True. There are many mild, mealy, or mushy yellow tomatoes. I could name a few regular leaf yellow or tangerine tomatoes that are good textured and great tasting. But this thread is about potato leafed varieties.

Among the potato leafed yellows and tangerines, I prefer KBX over the others I have grown including Yellow Brandywine, Sparks Yellow, and Orlov's Yellow. From what I hear, I need to grow Aunt Gertie's Gold, I think it's called.

For a bicolor yellow, Lucky Cross has awesome flavor but quite low and late production. Of course if I can wait for KBX to finally set fruit and even later to ripen, I guess I shouldn't complain too much about Lucky Cross taking 100 days to do the same

Oh, and for me, Hillbilly PL (the more common Hillbilly is RL) was a dud for me as it was disease prone and very reticent to set fruit at all.

[indigosand]

Originally Posted by travis

True. There are many mild, mealy, or mushy yellow tomatoes. I could name a few regular leaf yellow or tangerine tomatoes that are good textured and great tasting. But this thread is about potato leafed varieties.

Among the potato leafed yellows and tangerines, I prefer KBX over the others I have grown including Yellow Brandywine, Sparks Yellow, and Orlov's Yellow. From what I hear, I need to grow Aunt Gertie's Gold, I think it's called.

For a bicolor yellow, Lucky Cross has awesome flavor but quite low and late production. Of course if I can wait for KBX to finally set fruit and even later to ripen, I guess I shouldn't complain too much about Lucky Cross taking 100 days to do the same

Oh, and for me, Hillbilly PL (the more common Hillbilly is RL) was a dud for me as it was disease prone and very reticent to set fruit at all.

I wouldn't mind diverting the thread momentarily to hear your RL choice on Yellows.

I've plenty of space, sunshine and growing season to wait them out so I don't mind low production if it's worth the wait. I can pick up a ho-hum taste heavy producer at any garden supply but that's not what it's about kwim?
Disappointing to hear that about hillbilly. It has been one of my slowest to germinate and take off. We'll see. Can't be much worse than Copia for me last year, which set exactly two fruits that were so cracked by the time they reached maturity that there was nothing left of them. Maybe the California sunshine will work it's magic on them. Lucy cross is noted for next season if the hillbilly doesn't work out. ETA: my source for the hillbilly seed was Seed Savers Exchange. Anyone grown from them before?

[PaulF]

That's a tough one. Where you are and how you grow and what your individual tastes are determine whether you like one or another. That said, whenever I have grown Yellow Brandywine, it has not performed well and the flavor was pretty iffy. Others will swear by it.

For me, comparing YB to some others, I like other yellows better. Not really an answer, but my personal taste.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by PaulF

That's a tough one. Where you are and how you grow and what your individual tastes are determine whether you like one or another. That said, whenever I have grown Yellow Brandywine, it has not performed well and the flavor was pretty iffy. Others will swear by it.

For me, comparing YB to some others, I like other yellows better. Not really an answer, but my personal taste.

BY was the first one in my garden this season to contract Septoria. It got pulled when it was about 18" high. I don't want to even try it again.( not the platfoot one)
For me KBX was late but a moderately heavy producer, with a heavenly rich flavor. Wonderful BLTs! It was late though. One weighed almost a pound and a half.
Marsha

[carolyn137]

I wouldn't mind diverting the thread momentarily to hear your RL choice on Yellows.

&&&&&

I suppose anyones choices on RL yellows so that you have the additional input of anyone who doesn't see your request buried in this thread, but do you have any idea whatsoever of how many there are, just go to Tania's site alone and you'll find hundreds and hundreds, upon hundreds.

So can I make a gentle suggestion that we keep this thread to just PL varieties? If you want to start another thread just for RL yellows, that's a possibility, but again, you're going to run into the same problem of color designation, of taste and all the MANY variables that go into how taste is perceived and determined by many variables ranging from how the plants are grown, what amendments are used and if so which ones,when and how much, what the weather was like in the season you grew a variety, what the soil is like etc.

Bill, I hear you about the tangerine gene, I have for quite awhile, but the problem I see is that colors are not perceived the same by everyone, and there's even a human genetic factor involved.

Darrel Jones, for one, has said that he can't distinguish between yellow/gold/orange and it's been suggested that it may be a "male", not Male, as in Carolyn,, problem, so despite genetics and the sometimes variability of phenotypes from genotypes I don't think anyone should tell someone what they should see, rather, if a person has grown a variety I think it's preferable that they say what they CAN and DO see as to color.

Aunt Gertie's Gold? I love it and Chuck Wyatt named it b'c he saw the mature fruits as gold, as I and many others do. Not metallic Fort Knox Gold, nope, just gold colored as one might see with 10 and 14 K gold that I see with some necklaces that were the rage several decades ago, and there they repose in my jewely box, never to be worn again, and same with the gold earrings.

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by indigosand

I wouldn't mind diverting the thread momentarily to hear your RL choice on Yellows.

I've plenty of space, sunshine and growing season to wait them out so I don't mind low production if it's worth the wait. I can pick up a ho-hum taste heavy producer at any garden supply but that's not what it's about kwim?
Disappointing to hear that about hillbilly. It has been one of my slowest to germinate and take off. We'll see. Can't be much worse than Copia for me last year, which set exactly two fruits that were so cracked by the time they reached maturity that there was nothing left of them. Maybe the California sunshine will work it's magic on them. Lucy cross is noted for next season if the hillbilly doesn't work out. ETA: my source for the hillbilly seed was Seed Savers Exchange. Anyone grown from them before?

And now I'm laughing a bit b'c when theHillbilly PL was first offered in the SSE PUBLIC catalog I was given credit for it and that was a surpise to me.

So I looked in some past Yearbooks, found who the person was who did offer the PL first, notifed someone at SSE and the correct credit was given.

Yes, I've grown Hillbilly and many other gold/red bicolors as well, and all of them can be sweet and lucious one year and then the same variety mealy and bland the next year. I've concluded that they are very much influenced by weather in any one season.

Yes, there are few that I think that are better than others but most of them are RL's, not PL's and thos thread isnot a thread aboutgold/red bicolors in general.

Carolyn

[indigosand]

Sorry Carolyn, I was only asking the pp's opinion since he eluded that a pl yellow might not be his favorite.

No, I don't have any idea how many there are, as this is only my third year delving into the massive seed collections that exist. Which is exactly why I am here. Massive catalogs of varieties are excellent and interesting reading but I'm a bit out of my league here and a little shove in the right direction is welcome.

As stated in the OP, from what I have tried, I have found potato leafed varieties to be favorites and I would still like to hear from anyone who has others they could add to what has already been said.

I just came across another thread in which the opinion was that the white potato leaf tomato isn't very good. Has anyone grown it and liked it?