Brandy Boy Hybrid

[wildcat62]

Love those pics Hudson.

[AKmark]

Hudson, I used to not do the plant drop thing, or prune aggressively either, but I will never look back. I was shown this by a couple other commercial growers as well as our state horticulture guy.
Been picking about 400lbs a week out of one greenhouse, 30 x70 the others will be producing soon, and are larger greenhouses. I never got that kind of production with my old habits.

On another note, your plants look great, your fertilizer mix and watering schedule is apparently spot on. The only reason I even commented on your already wonderful setup is I think you can have them running out of your ears, with a tiny tweek or two, something like that. LOL
Again, great job my tomato friend.
Mark

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks for the info Mark! I appreciate you taking the time to inform me of other options that can improve the production of tomatoes in our Greenhouse! I may have asked this before - but do you have a link to a thread that shows your methods, including what and how you feed your plants? I would like to take a look at your methods as an alternative for next year's crop. I am impressed with what I have seen grown in your Greenhouse!

In the meantime - Brandy Boy just keeps doing what Brandy Boy does best - cranking out tomatoes - very prolific with great taste!

Thanks Wildcat - here are a couple of more pics.

[AKmark]

Hudson, I use 4-18-38 CaNO3, and MgSO4 every watering. You will use different amounts than I do because of the difference in length of day.
I have a thread in the container section called plant management. Next year I will be coiling my vines differently. I will move plant A to where plant C is, B to D, etc, etc. This way there is no coil, the vines just run along the bottoms mostly straight. I am also going to use spools and guide wire, this will be much faster to lower the plants and move them.
I have the state horticulture guys, who are also friends, over here often, they nudge me little by little, and tolerate my stubborn habits, that I slowly let go of in time. At any rate, as I drop my excuses, I nudge closer to growing like the major players. I do stick with the tasty varieties, they can keep the tailored greenhouse varieties, I'm just not very impressed with most of them.

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks Mark - I have to take a good look at your methods!

[Hudson_WY]

So - is there a relationship between the size of the leaf and the size of the fruit? Just noticed how huge these leaves are this morning on our 2nd crop of Brandy Boy plants that are only 3 1/2' tall. Maybe I will get all leaf and no fruit - haha

Also - another 1+ pound Brandy Boy off the vines we planted in January.

[Hudson_WY]

Our 2nd Crop of Brandy Boy Hybrids planted in late June from cutting off the 1st Crop that was planted in January. These plants are only 3-4' high - yet Brandy Boy means business from the start. The trusses are the most stout of any variety we plant and very prolific as always!

[Hudson_WY]

The second crop will soon have ripe Brandy Boys! This time around I staggered the plants about 3 weeks apart.

[Gardeneer]

Hudson, it is like you've got a hen that lays golden eggs.
Look at that truss ! Its main is as thick as tomato stem. I have never seen anything like that.

[b54red]

Impressive. Brandy Boy hybrid was the first tomato variety that had the word Brandy in its name to ever produce a fruit for me. It is the tomato that encouraged me not to give up on the heirlooms. It was earlier and more productive than the straight Brandywine Sudduth's down here but the flavor though great was not quite as good. I will say it is the best tasting hybrid tomato I have ever taken a bite out of in all my years of gardening and have recommended it to others who have failed with Sudduth's which is definitely harder to grow with good results down here. If I had not learned to graft I would still be growing them today.

Bill

[clkeiper]

Those look fabulous. Mine are just about 6' tall and have some fruit starting to get some size... we will see. they aren't nearly as impressive as yours are, thats for sure. If I hadn't seen yours I would have said it was all hype... yours are beautiful. I see some of the pictures that the seed companies try to pawn off as the final appearance and it is so unrealistic and I find myself so disappointed with some of them... (Cherry Falls, anyone? the picture in an urn is fabulous, but not happening for the typical gardener) NO ONE can get what they are showing as the typical home gardener.

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks for your comments - These are all cuttings from the first crop. I agree with you b54red - I'm not quite there yet with Sudduth but have 3 plants 1/2 the size of my Brandy Boys that I cut at the same time for the second crop. I like the taste of Sudduth a bit better but Brandy Boy is energized like none other in our GH! Sey said it right - it's like the golden goose for us. I'm not sure why but I'm staying with it. I just stuck the cuttings in the soil the end of June, watered and fertilized them. I'll have to take a photo of the Sudduths I cut and planted at the same time to show you the difference! I'm going to keep working on Sudduth though - I like it second best to Brandy Boy.
Thanks clkeiper - the greenhouse certainly helps!

[Hudson_WY]

Here are a few photos of Sudduth planted on the East Side of the GH the same time as the Brandy Boys were planted on the West side of the GH (from cuttings). Everything else was the same. I am going to try a few different sources of Sudduth next year and compare. I still like Sudduth

[clkeiper]

Yours look way better than mine. I am stringing tomatoes for the first time. I still see some grey mold even though they aren't "wet". they are probably too dry and I probably am not fertilizing heavy enough, either. It has been a really hard Summer. way too hot and dry. Some days I see 120 on the greenhouse thermometer and that is with the fans running continuously. sigh. and no rain all Summer.
100_2289.jpg

[Hudson_WY]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Yours look way better than mine. It has been a really hard Summer. way too hot and dry. Some days I see 120 on the greenhouse thermometer and that is with the fans running continuously. sigh. and no rain all Summer.
Attachment 65232

I think my plants are older and I have not pruned as many leaves. It has been a hard summer for us too. We have had a hard time keeping the temperature under 85° and the humidity under 70%. Our fruit set rate has varied some from week to week.