Which is better?

[Redbaron]

I am still waiting for that perfect brandywine. So far no luck with them.

[WhippoorwillG]

I grew three or four different Brandywines last year. My wife tasted a Suddeth and immediately wanted to know what the variety was, as it was one of the most delicious she had ever tasted.... out of over a hundred varieties that I have exposed her to.

She really enjoyed it, and the ONE other tomato that came off of the vine. I have found it to be the case with most Brandywines, however I really enjoy the Platfoot myself, especially for market appeal and have had decent yields in some years.

So I too agree with most of the sentiment above. In general, it doesn't do very well in the South. It is very unpredictable with regards to flavor, production, and most other meaningful metrics. Knock yourself out and enjoy your rewards, but it likely won't end your quest for the perfect tomato.....

[PaulF]

I have also grown many of the "Brandywines." Seems like if you want to sell a tomato, you stick the title Brandywine on it. Several of the Brandywines I grew were from Chuck Wyatt in the early days. My inexperienced taste buds could not distinguish between them. My palette improved and there were several I got to enjoy.

I particularly like Sudduth, Joyce's, Quisenberry's, Cowlicks and OTV. Black was mostly ordinary and Red is just a red tomato. Platfoot was a bust: there are lots of better yellows.

In my northern gardens, when things go right, Brandys are the best ever both for taste and production. But then things go right one out of three years. The off years production is very bad and the flavor is good to very good. Planting a Brandywine can be very rewarding and worth the hype and at the very least there are some very good tomatoes in the garden.

[Starlight]

My oh my! That was a heck of an introduction Worth. Very enlightening. I have read over it several times already and probably will several times more since there is so much information in that link.

FarmerShawn... Thank you. I have gone back and marked little notes on my packages so I'm not planting the same seed of the same thing.

When you don't know your tomatoes well and for me anyways, when heirlooms were first mentioned to me, Brandywine is the name that popped into my head. Maybe it is because you always see it for sale in just about every veggie rack with the word heirloom on the package.

I appreciate everybody sharing their experiences. It gets very hot and humid down here and I have about 3 months where nothing will set til temps cool down. Most of what I grow goes to feed other folks, so it kind a looks like that the Brandwine's are not going to give me the kind of production I am looking for, but maybe just more or less grow a plant for personal taste and if I only get one or two tomatoes that won't be so bad and I see if I enjoy the flavor of it.

Another dumb question here, but what does Off The Vine mean?

[Worth1]

Off The Vine was an on line news letter that Carolyn Male and Craig LeHoullier put out a few years ago.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

I have planted Brandywine (no suffix) in the past but was not happy with. The last time (2013) the fruits did not even get ripe. So no more brandywine in my garden. Instead I am growin BRANDY BOY, which is a hybrid. (got seeds from Lowes) Everybody who has grown it liked it better than Brandywine.

But I have heard good reviews on sodduth strain.

[newgardener_tx]

I read it somewhere that most of tomatoes will stop pollinate at about 95F and Brandywine stops at 85F. That is probably why it doesn't have good production in southern states. I got two big ones from one plant and those are the only two. But I have a lot of different strains(types) in the bed this year because of all the hype/discussion/argument here.

[heirloomtomaguy]

I have grown most of the brandywine's on your list and all taste great but have poor production with exception to one. Black brandywine though not a true brandywine was excellent in flavor and produced a ton of tomatoes. As for a red i have jumped ship from brandywine to Tiffen Mennonite. Delicious and productive with lots of brandywine type of flavor. If interested Starlight let me know and i will send you some seed.

[Starlight]

Thanks for the addition thoughts. It really does help to know how others think and feel.

Gardeneer, I don't know Brandy Boy, but will check it out when I go to Lowe's next time. The main new hybrid I am trying this year is Boy Oh Boy F1. I'll have to see how the two compare. I have a few extra seeds of it if you want to try it too with your Brandy Boy.

New Gardener Tx ,

I read it somewhere that most of tomatoes will stop pollinate at about 95F and Brandywine stops at 85F.

Very good information to know. I wonder if giving them filtered sun from under Pine trees would do any good for getting more fruits or that a really bad idea?

Heirloomtomatoguy, Sent you a pm.


Now to see if I can find a sticky to learn how to post more than one quote at a time.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Starlight

Thanks for the addition thoughts. It really does help to know how others think and feel.

Gardeneer, I don't know Brandy Boy, but will check it out when I go to Lowe's next time. The main new hybrid I am trying this year is Boy Oh Boy F1. I'll have to see how the two compare. I have a few extra seeds of it if you want to try it too with your Brandy Boy.

New Gardener Tx ,

Very good information to know. I wonder if giving them filtered sun from under Pine trees would do any good for getting more fruits or that a really bad idea?

Heirloomtomatoguy, Sent you a pm.


Now to see if I can find a sticky to learn how to post more than one quote at a time.

All temperatures are measured in the shade.
Since the tomatoes are out in the sun I am going to try to see what the radiant heat level is that causes blossom drop this year.

Worth

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Worth1

All temperatures are measured in the shade.
Since the tomatoes are out in the sun I am going to try to see what the radiant heat level is that causes blossom drop this year.

Worth

I didn't know that and I imagine a lot of other folks don't either.

Sounds like a good project to study to me. Blossom drop is a major problem down here.

Now will the results you get be just for your area or can we all use the information, or will we have to each do our own testing. That is once you teach us how.

[dustdevil]

As you've read, Brandywine varieties perform differently in other zones. I recommend you try one Cowlick's and test the waters...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Starlight

I didn't know that and I imagine a lot of other folks don't either.

Sounds like a good project to study to me. Blossom drop is a major problem down here.

Now will the results you get be just for your area or can we all use the information, or will we have to each do our own testing. That is once you teach us how.

I will see so far it is a wild idea.
The reason behind it is I hear people say that a shade cloth helps with blossom drop.
Well a shade cloth puts the temperatures on the shade side of things.
As we all know when you walk out of the shade you are in the sun and it feels hotter because it is.

I have always been curious what the actual surface temperature of the bloom is before it drops.
It has to be way over 80 degrees or so.
And the only way I can check that temperature is to have a laser temperature checker.
In my very keen observations here at home the humidity plays a lesser role than the temperature does.

Here are some thoughts and observations for people that want to grow Brandywine or any other blossom dropping tomato in the south to stay on subject.
Shade cloth only reduces the heat so much maybe 50% of what total shade would do.
We all know tomatoes need sunlight to grow so we cant put them in total shade.
Now thinking about it you dont have to have the whole plant in the shade nor do we have to shade the hole plant early on.
What you need to keep cool is the blossom truss and its blooms.
Could this be accomplished with just covering the blooms?
Could a person install micro sprayers to just keep the bloom truss cooled.
They could be controlled by way of a thermostat.
The sprayers could be in small 1/4 inch lines and moved from truss to truss as needed.
Nothing in growing tomatoes has bothered me more or have I been able to do anything about but blossom drop.
I am determined to figure out a way to stop it.

Worth

[Redbaron]

I got good results against blossom drop with my methods Worth. Not quite as bad as your area, but Oklahoma gets nearly as hot in summer, well over what is traditionally thought of as possible to get fruit set with tomatoes. You might try it. Didn't work for Brandywines though.

[VC Scott]

If I had to choose just two, I would choose:

1. Brandywine Sudduth (which is the same as Brandywine Sudduth Strain and likely the same as Brandywine Quissenberry. Ben Quissenberry collected the seeds for Brandywine Sudduth from Dorothy Sudduth and shared them with others.) Brandywine Sudduth is more productive than your typical Pink Brandywine.

2. Brandywine Yellow Platfoot. I love this tomato because of its creamy texture and great flavor. My favorite yellow from last year (also grew Dr. Wyche Yellow and KBX last year). It won't match Dr. Wyche Yellow or KBX for production, but I found the flavor and texture to be extraordinary.

My third choice would be Brandywine OTV which is a cross between Brandywine Yellow and an unknown red. Brandywine OTV is a red tomato.

You might also want to try Brandywine Cowlicks, which is just as productive as Sudduth, but is earlier (at least for me).