Brandywine tomatoes

Shoe, Found my tags and I have recorded them for posterity.....LOL

Trade ya for a couple trombicinos ???

Before I go, I fell off my chair when I read this......ROTFLMBO...............

.Horseshoe
.Hillsborough, NC
.Zone 7a
.Jun 23, 2001
.9:43 AM

.Hmmmm...definitely would have to be the yr I grafted a mater plant onto a tater plant...the "po-to-mato"....thought I'd get taters underground, maters up top. The taters didn't fare so well...were a bit mushy, like an over-ripe tomato. The maters grew with something that resembled "eyes" on them and were a bit mealy. I tried my best to hide that experiment, and that part of my mindframe, but alas to no avail. Last spring I caught my DD planting marshmallows to grow a marshmallow tree. Oh well, my blood-line lives on.

;-p :~D =)


BTW, my seeds are B.Quisenberry strain

Hugz,
§

Just recieved my Suddath(Brandywine) and Mariannas Peace from Tomato Growers Supply yesterday and am anxious to get the seeds started. I will probably start them next week. I was surprised to see Mariannas Peace at the same price as all seeds because at one nursery they were selling @ $7.00
per seed!
From what I'd gathered from the above comments ,Brandywine grows differently in different zones. Ya never know what ya get! Sounds like fun.I'll let you all know how they grow for me.

Scooter...it's a deal. (I have some of the trombocinos in a germ test right now but am sure I'll have a few for you if you like.)

T,
......... Glad you kept your eyes open, I bet !
Remember the old saying "Buyer Beware"?
.............I have found other seeds at rip-off prices also, but unless it is a very rare plant from the rain forest or such, "Phooey" on them.
..........I found stevia seeds once for a buck each, imagine they must be of Gold?
.........A friend lives close by and has been into organics all his life. So sometime I can get answers from him altho he is usually hard to track down. I get my ground wheat and Jerusalem 'chokes from him.

Good thing this is my thread so I can "Ramble on"..LOL

Nite,§

Scooter,

That heat really can take its toll on tomatoes. Once my Brandywine plant had reached maturity, I had over forty small pea size fruit that were on their way to becoming large tomatoes. However, the heat and humidity caused a very large portion of them to drop blossoms and so I lost what could have been a huge number of fruit from a single plant. Still, I harvested a good crop.

Marianna's Peace is a slightly better tasting tomato than Brandywine in my opinion. Production with MP is a bit improved as well.

Jay

TNX Jay, I'll look them up.
shirley

Lordy! I am sure glad I read this thread before bothering to plant Brandies this next year, as I'd planned! Another gardener from Dave's is sending me some Abe Lincoln seeds. I heard Brandywine are good tasting tomatoes, but if they aren't large maters, and you don't get much yield, I'd rather not even bother. Thanks guys!

Actually, they "can" be large maters. The yield for me (in hot summer NC) has never been much tho. They seem to do better in cooler climates. They may do okay for you, Karrie, but they are a long-term mater so you'd have to start them early, and in your area offer protection (cloches, hoop houses, etc). At least that is what I gather from others in your state.

Someone else wanna chip in here? (I've never grown tomatoes in Wa.)

Well Karrie , I call 18 -24 oz. large so these BW's are big enough for me. All tomatoes seem to grow according to weather , care and location but so does everything else I would guess =)
It's all personal choice and if you are happy with what you grew , ya done good .
(-;
§

18 - 24 oz sounds big to me. I think my main concern was the length of time it took people to get to harvest. I'm zone 5b. I do plan to start mine early this year with those wall-o-waters I've heard so many good things about. That is supposed to increase my growing season by 6 to 8 weeks. :)

p.s. how is the "yield" on the brandywines?

huge....once they get going =)

This message was edited Jan 5, 2004 12:25 PM

Well, then maybe I will plant a couple of them just to give them a try. :) Scooter, what zone are you in? I'm up north, like you, in 5b (USDA chart).

Shoe ---- You say you've grown hybrids that taste pretty good? Can you tell me which ones they were? The ones I've tried were thick skinned and medioka in taste. I'd like to try some again because they are normally early season and will decrease my appetite while I wait for my heirlooms to ripen.

Tplant...there is no doubt in my mind. You will like Johnny's 361 (available from Johnny's Seeds).

For years I was pretty much "anti-hybrid/pro-heirloom". However, when I was looking for a decent sized early tomato other than Early Girl I tried the 361. It's delish!

Comes in early, is slightly acidic but not overbearingly so. Growth habit is determinate but what I did was remove suckers, rooted them and planted out a second crop, making them last till Fall. I think you'll be impressed. And take it from one who seldom brags about hybrids. (I actually saved seeds from my first crop of them, hoping to try stabilize them.)

Tplant, Better Boy is another example with very good taste for a hybrid. Also, it's very productive and grows well in a wide range of climates (according to suppliers). I have planted this one for canning for the last 4 or 5 years.

My Better Boys did well last year - and the skins weren't terribly thick like some of them (do NOT like the thick skins either). Good tasting, and nice size.

There are only 2 true colors of Brandywine. Pink and yellow.

Not really true Mel.

Since someone just referred to a Brandywine thread here I thought I'd drop by to see what's being said.

I didn't know tomatoes were being discussed here since there already is a tomato forum. LOL

Anyway, in a post I just did in the tomato forum I outlined the three Brandywine varieties that are true family heirlooms and the three most common that resulted either from accidental X pollinations or deliberate crosses.

So if anyone's interested, it's over there. (smile)

Many feel that the Sudduth/Quisenberry strain is THE best tasting variety around. Others don't and the reasons are many including wrong seed, different cultural practices, weather, individual taste preferences and on and on.

For instance, some rave abut Marianna's Peace while some I know, including myself, could list ten large pink varieties that I like better than that one.

But further discussion I would think might best be done in the tomato forum unless all the rest of you do post both places. I don't , for lots of reasons. (smile)

Carolyn

See you over there then!

Don't see any posts from CA. But if anyone is interested, apparently CA and Brandywines aren't simpatico. I tried two years with NO success. When I mentioned this to my friend who is a Master Gardener in a different CA climate zone, she confirmed that neither she nor anyone she knew had grown Brandywines to brag about.

Oh ! Oh !
..........Pasted from another site.......

'Johnny's 361' has been discontinued
Posted by paulsalvaterra 7 NC (My Page) on Mon, Dec 15, 03 at 12:19
Talked to Johnny's today, the folks they buy the seed from have stopped producing this lovely tomato. I have 1 pack of seeds from last year [about 40 seeds] These are a F1 hybrid, can I save the seeds for a few years?
Also, recently, someone in a posting suggested a small tomato plant that could be pot grown indoors, producing cherry tomatoes, what was that variety?

Scooter don't know if this is the one but here is what it says about Micro Tom hybrid.

88 days considered to be the worlds smallest tomato, with plants being 6 to 8 inches tall bearing loads of flavorful fruits. Micro Tom is an ideal house plant for window sills and patios letting you enjoy vine ripened tomatoes year round.

And another choice is.

55 days Red Robin an extra sweet dwarf container grown cherry variety just as good grown indoors as a pot plant.Round red 1 and 1/4 inchfruits on 8 to 12 inch plants ideal for windowsills patios or hanging baskets.

I havent grown either but would probably pick the Robin.

Sorry don't know about the seed thing Ernie

Ernie,
......So what I'm wondering *aka dreaming* A self fertile container 'mater? Or are they just saying that the plant's foliage itself makes a nice (albeit short-lived) house plant??

The reference to the seeds was for Shoe. I posted incorrectly =(
§hirley

Your 361 seeds should be just fine for several seasons. I'd keep them dry, cool, and in a dark place. I've grown tomatoes from 5 year old seeds with very little loss of germination.

I've also grown Red Robin, and it isn't bad tasting. What I did,was start them around Christmas one year and on pretty days, set the pots outside. I got a few fruits...probably less than a dozen per plant (I had 4) The thing about tomatoes, you'll need to stimulate the plant like it was outside in the breeze. Some folks use an electric toothbrush to vibrate the blossoms on indoor plants. I just took my hand and brushed the foliage around...got that good tomato smell that way. This will pollinate your blossoms like nature does.