Is Earl's Faux really Brandywine? and more controversies

[gardengalrn]

I've grown Earl's Faux for 3 years and Brandywine for longer. They are very different in my garden. Earl's Faux consistently produces better and is a lighter color for me. The taste is definitely different although both are extremely good.

I've grown AGG for 3 years and Brandywine Yellow just this year. Again, very different. AGG has a richer taste IMO vs a decent Brandywine Yellow which is a little zestier, for lack of a better description.

I grew Stupice and Kimberly side by side this year and while I think they are very similar in size/shape, the taste is very different again. Kimberly was earlier by over a week and was less sweet than Stupice. Just my observations.

[where_with_all]

wouldn't surprise me if marrianna's peace was a brandywine. I think they both come from the same source(some quisenberry??? guy according to TGS)

I think any differences are probably to subsequent genetic crosses.


What does EF~>BW mean?

[daylilydude]

EF- Earl's Faux
BW-Brandywine

[carolyn137]

wouldn't surprise me if marrianna's peace was a brandywine. I think they both come from the same source(some quisenberry??? guy according to TGS)


No, they don't both come from the same source.

Brandywine was in the original collection of Ben Quisenberry as he got seeds from Doris Sudduth Hill and one of the preferred strains of Brandywine is the Sudduth / Quisenberry strain of that variety. There's a thread here in General Discussion about Ben Quisenberry that you might wish to read. A remarkable person, but no longer with us.

The background history on Marianna's Peace can be found at Tomatofest.com and it's European in origin.

[where_with_all]

Thanks Carolyn-- My mistake. I went over to TGS and re-read the descriptions.

Still think they are close in taste and in looks.

Daylilydude,

I meant what does ~> mean? Is EF better or slightly better. Or does it mean you can barely tell? Or does it mean it is equal? Or does it mean soemthing else?

[daylilydude]

OOPS MY BAD !!

[Earl]

In the "pink line" as to what I've grown or tasted, Marianna's Peace comes closest to tasting as good as Faux. But MP is not as silky smooth as Faux.

Looks like I'm gonna have to grow BW one more time and compare one more time. :-)

[Ruth_10]

I used "EF ~> BW" to denote that we found Earl's Faux approximately equal to or slightly better tasting than Pink Brandywine (Sudduth strain). My apologies for the confusion. Trying to find ways to express the differences between three great tomatoes (EF, BW, and MP) is a great problem to have!

My husband and I did a number of side-by-side taste tests of the three this summer. We work at the same place and eat lunch together, so I would bring two tomatoes that we would taste side by side and then rate them. I knew which was which, but he didn't, so for him it was a blind taste test. He almost always choose EF over BW or MP, but commented that the differences were not huge. I'm not as good picking out subtle differences--I thought they were all wonderful. We did side-by-side taste tests with a number of other varieties as well. Zogola and German Red Strawberry did well, as did Millionaire and German Head.

[barkeater]

Earls Faux and Brandywine seems different to me. The biggest difference I noticed was Earl's Faux is a very hard, solid tomato, but thin skinned. Commercial growers would love EF if it was more productive. BW still beats it for flavor so far rating an 8 to a 6.5.

Aunt Gerties Gold and Yellow BW are also very different. At first they looked identical, and both are huge plants.
But AGG ripens to a deeper gold, with a squat shape, and large blossom scar compared to YB.

[where_with_all]

Thanks ruth_10

I might have to try Earls Faux net year for myself if I can get seeds. I am obsessed with the best tatsting tomato. I have grown MP for two years and I grew BW this year. BW and MP are real close in taste. I would agree its splitting hairs. But BW usually comes out the winner in all my taste tests. I am curious about Earls Faux, but with no commercial source- it might not happen for me. I am not much of a seed exchanger. Anyway it would nto surprise me if the genetic make up of all three were very close to each other.