Brandywine!

I had grown seedlings of a number of different Brandywine Cultivars including, Sudduth, Cowlicks, Red; and others. They were killed in a late frost so I was limited to growing seedlings purchased from a local nursery. They only had two cultivars labeled Brandywine and Brandywine Yellow. I figured I would determine which cultivar of Brandywine I was growing when the plant grew and produced fruit.

I've read many reports on different cultivars of Brandywine which seem to indicate low production, average to great taste, low disease resistance, and other opinions. The varieties I planted were set in the soil on March 7 to attempt good blossom and fruit set in the cooler weather of spring. I shook the vines almost daily to improve pollination of the vines.

After 85 days, I harvested the first Brandywine yesterday with some Brandywine Yellow fruit almost ready to harvest as well. Both Cultivars are covered with fruit. The fruit I harvested weighs about 24 ounces and is pink. The fruit is well formed in an oblong, slightly flattened shape. Both plants were slightly affected by septoria losing a lot of the lower leaves but they are still doing well and producing new growth at the bottom.

I still have no idea which cultivar of Brandywine the pink fruited plant is, but it is highly productive, potato leaf, and very large. I will probably eat the large fruit this evening with dinner and I anticipate a very tasty tomato.

Ted

[RDUN]

Ted, if I recall correctly, you purchased your plants at Dennis Farm in Denton. I planted one from there as well as one of the Chef Jeff's pink brandywines from Calloways. I don't know the strain of either one but the one from Dennis has a fair amount of fruit and the one from Calloways only has two. I've harvested a couple from the Dennis plant but they were small, but good. For what it's worth, mine are growing in self-watering containers.

DRUN,

Yes, both varieties were from Dennis Farm Supply and grown by Baby's nurseries somewhere in Texas. Baby's supplied their plants to a lot of outlets in the DFW area. Their early seedlings were very tall and leggy which is how I like them. I could plant them very deep and they had multiple blossoms within a week. The fact that I got them into the soil on March 7 while we still had a lot of very cool weather ahead is why they grew so well and produced so well. Had I planted them in mid to late March, the seedlings were much smaller and would have set much less fruit. I grew and planted some Sudduth variety last year with a planting in late March and got zero fruit from them. I'm watching two of them finish ripening on the kitchen counter with a lot more still on the plants. I also have some yellows which are ripe enough to pick and eat.

Ted