Brandywine

[brooksville]

Bill that's a tough break. I hate to hear it.

Sunday I am going to post some pics. On one side of several plants the new growth looks like it has a mineral deficiency but it isn't because the other side is growing good with dark green foliage and setting fruit. It is also stunted. I think it may be TSWV but have never experienced it. The new growth doesn't look like the TSWV thread, that is why I would like to get y'all's opinion.

John

[b54red]

Originally Posted by brooksville

Bill that's a tough break. I hate to hear it.

Sunday I am going to post some pics. On one side of several plants the new growth looks like it has a mineral deficiency but it isn't because the other side is growing good with dark green foliage and setting fruit. It is also stunted. I think it may be TSWV but have never experienced it. The new growth doesn't look like the TSWV thread, that is why I would like to get y'all's opinion.

John

John it is certainly possible since TSWV usually shows first on one stem before eventually taking over the whole plant. It is usually most visible and recognizable on new growth which will appear to have become stunted and any new blossom buds tend to darken and die even before they can bloom. Sometimes it will act slow enough to allow nearly mature fruit to reach the ripe stage before the whole plant dies. In all my years of dealing with it I have only had two plants actually set new fruit that continued to grow after getting TSWV and even with them growth was really slow and somewhat stunted. I now have three large plants infected that are loaded with fruit that are still in the garden and I'm hoping they can last long enough for me to get some production from them. I did have four but had to pull the other one a couple of days ago as it went downhill very fast. Of the three left one doesn't look like it will make it long enough either and will probably have to be pulled in the next few days. The other two that I removed the main stem that showed infection first seem to be hanging on a bit better but only time will tell. The two that are still looking like they may hang on are a Spudakee and one of my Sudduth's.

The advice to remove them immediately from the garden upon recognizing TSWV may be the best move but I have never noticed that it made any difference. The two plants years ago that survived the illness for so long stayed in the garden for at least two months after getting it yet none of the nearby tomatoes came down with it. Since then I have immediately pulled any young plant that showed signs of TSWV but have left the large healthy looking plants with larger fruit stay longer to see if they would make anything. More often than not that is not successful but sometimes it is.
When I see TSWV symptoms on a stem I remove that main stem as low down as possible without removing too many tomatoes and hope for the best.

Bill

[Mallori]

I got my first ever ripe Brandywine yesterday, and it was well worth the low productivity. My most productive Brandywine has a total of 4 fruit set, but man are they delicious!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Mallori

I got my first ever ripe Brandywine yesterday, and it was well worth the low productivity. My most productive Brandywine has a total of 4 fruit set, but man are they delicious!

Not to me they aren't, Ive seen whole plants down here not put on one fruit or maybe one.

Worth

[Mallori]

That wouldn't be worth it for me, either. I have three plants and each have 4 or so fruit on them. Everything struggled during that rain we had in May, and its blooming again, so I am hopeful that I will get more before the season is over.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Mallori

That wouldn't be worth it for me, either. I have three plants and each have 4 or so fruit on them. Everything struggled during that rain we had in May, and its blooming again, so I am hopeful that I will get more before the season is over.

The same goes for several other fantastic tomatoes I have tried many times.
And that is putting out nice 18 inch bushy plants in the first week of march.

I tried persimmon got one big fantastic tomato on it and that was it.
It went on a hamburger.
Hillbilly three years one tomato.

Worth

[NarnianGarden]

And here I was thinking that our climate conditions were a challenge

[b54red]

My other Brandywines are still setting new fruit but not very many just one here and there but that is to be expected of most of the large pink beefsteaks when temps are well above 90 every day. Of course the one Brandywine Sudduth's with TSWV seems to be through setting fruit but the plant is hanging in there so far and I may get some ripe tomatoes off of it. The one large pink beefsteak that is still defying the odds is Limbaugh's Legacy which is still setting moderately despite the heat. That six days of rain helped with fruit set on most of my plants but we are back to dryer weather now and even higher temps getting to 99 yesterday and at 9:30 it is already over 95 today so I expect we will top 100.

I can't say that Brandywines are terrible in the heat but they are not the best for our weather down here. With the techniques I follow to get more fruit set I find them to be moderately productive plants most years now that I have figured out how to increase fruit set. I would say that if you want a large pink beefsteak that does better than the average tomato in the southern heat you might want to consider Limbaugh's Legacy.

Bill

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

And here I was thinking that our climate conditions were a challenge

Texas can be an unforgiving place to grow tomatoes there are many climates here.
You have to have your game on to get good results from many verities.
Every year I experiment with a new tomato.
I have found there are two types that do well here.
One type is the type that does well in cooler climates and set fruit early.
The other type does well in hotter climates.
I grew purple calabash one year and it was covered in fruit but the flavor was off.
Black prince this year put out a lot of fruit but the flavor was off too.

I have another thing I have to look for.
Shelf life.
I have to have a tomato that keeps well so I can pick it and take it to work with me in Alaska.
Bradywine doesn't fit into any of these slots.

Worth

[b54red]

Worth: Have you grown Pruden's Purple, Neves Azorean Red or Red Barn. They all seem to have pretty good shelf life for me and they are nice tomatoes with good size. It isn't hard to find medium size tomatoes with good shelf live just pick any highly touted disease resistant hybrid and you can keep it dang near forever.

Bill

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by b54red

Worth: Have you grown Pruden's Purple, Neves Azorean Red or Red Barn. They all seem to have pretty good shelf life for me and they are nice tomatoes with good size. It isn't hard to find medium size tomatoes with good shelf live just pick any highly touted disease resistant hybrid and you can keep it dang near forever.

Bill

Neves Azorean red I have grown two times.
One year one giant plant no tomatoes, growing right next to plant covered in tomatoes.
The next year giant plant and several tomatoes I just loved.
The plants behind it were raisedasnob and they did great as always too.
That was I think about the last year I was able to start seeds.

Worth

[David Dooley]

Grow Stump of the World instead of Brandywine. Same flavor but more productive.

[Ed of Somis]

Of course weather is a key role in growing maters....and mine is very good. That said...my Brandywine Cowlick's (both) are doing well and have about 7-8 fruit each hanging now...with promise of more to come on this summer. I am hoping Camo is right, and these are winners. I have a Stump of the World for the first time, also. Hoping D (above) is correct too!

[AKmark]

SOTW was earlier this year than Sudduth's and Cowlick's BW, great yield on all three varieties, but SOTW has the most pretty tomatoes. Taste is interchangeable, but Sudduth's may have a tiny edge.

[b54red]

About ten years ago Stump of the World was my favorite tomato and it was very productive for me but since then it has been a very poor performer getting beat out by Sudduth's in production for the past five years. I just gave up on it last year and didn't even plant one this year. Funny how things change from year to year. My go to large pink beefsteak is now Limbaugh's Legacy because it has been the most consistent for me the last ten years. Taste among the big pink beefsteaks varies from year to year but the good ones are almost always great tasting though one year one will be better than the others. The only thing you can count on is that the next year things will probably change. That is why I no longer plant ten of just one variety even if it was my best tomato the year before. I learned the hard way with Marianna's Peace and Stump of the World that if you put too many eggs in one basket you frequently get a disaster.

Bill