Tomato 'Brandywine'

Lycopersiconlycopersicum

Family
Solanaceae (so-lan-AY-see-ee)
Genus
Lycopersicon (ly-koh-PER-see-kon)
Species
lycopersicum (ly-koh-PER-see-kum)
Synonym
Spacing
4-6 ft. (1.2-1.8 m)
6-8 ft. (1.8-2.4 m)
Sun Exposure
24-36 in. (60-90 cm)
36-48 in. (90-120 cm)
Other Details
Seed Collecting
Full Sun
Fruit Shape
Parts of plant are poisonous if ingested
Fruit Size
Fruit Colors
Growing Habit
Days to Maturity
Seed Type
Disease Resistance
Allow unblemished fruit to ripen; clean and dry seeds
Ferment seeds before storing
Properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored
Leaf Type
Beefsteak
Foliage Color
Medium (under one pound)
Large (over one pound)
Bloom Characteristics
Pink
Water Requirements
Where to Grow
Indeterminate
Regional

This plant is said to grow outdoors in the following regions:

Smiths, Alabama

Holbrook, Arizona

Maumelle, Arkansas

Aptos, California

Bonsall, California

Day Valley, California

Foothill Farms, California

Fresno, California

Klamath River, California

Lawndale, California

Menifee, California

Rio del Mar, California

Sacramento, California

Vista, California(9 reports)

West Sacramento, California

Yreka, California

Broomfield, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

Greenwich, Connecticut

Newington, Connecticut

Keystone Heights, Florida

Miami, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Braselton, Georgia

Boise, Idaho

Chicago, Illinois

Bloomington, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Barbourville, Kentucky

Benton, Kentucky

Ewing, Kentucky

Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky(2 reports)

Zachary, Louisiana

Earleville, Maryland

Upton, Massachusetts

Flint, Michigan

Macomb, Michigan

Moorhead, Minnesota

Pipestone, Minnesota

Columbia, Missouri

Billings, Montana

Omaha, Nebraska

Englishtown, New Jersey

Three Bridges, New Jersey

Watchung, New Jersey

Albany, New York

East Chatham, New York

Newark Valley, New York

Cary, North Carolina

Forest City, North Carolina

Cincinnati, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Swanton, Ohio

Troy, Ohio

Vinton, Ohio

Mount Angel, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Indiana, Pennsylvania

Simpsonville, South Carolina

Waverly, Tennessee

Elgin, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Houston, Texas

Pasadena, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

Salt Lake City, Utah(2 reports)

Richmond, Virginia

Spokane, Washington

New Milton, West Virginia

Eagle River, Wisconsin

Twin Lakes, Wisconsin

show all

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Gardener's Notes:

29
positives
10
neutrals
15
negatives
Sort By:
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S
Louisville, KY | April 2017 | positive

Last year I grew black red, and pink varieties of Brandywine tomatoes. The red did very poorly and only produced about 3 large fruits, t...Read More

T
| October 2016 | positive

Excellent tomato. We had a hot summer and it seemed to thrive. Lots of big tasty fruit.

We had a taste-off pitting Paul Ro...Read More

N
Indianapolis, IN (Zone 6a) | January 2016 | negative

I was really looking forward to this one. We grew this tomato in an Earthbox during the summer of 2015 in Salt Lake City. There were se...Read More

M
Riegelsville, PA | August 2014 | negative

Growing 2 plants in 5-gallon buckets this year. Plenty of fruit, but the first batch on both plants had a brown-grey area around the blos...Read More

S
Bountiful, UT | August 2014 | positive

Big plants, big tomatoes & great flavor. 1-2 pound fruits with minimal splitting or bizarre shapes. Perfect for covering an entire sand...Read More

C
Huntsdale, MO | September 2013 | positive

Tough to grow, but in my opinion the best tasting tomato. Very complex flavor that is not overly sweet. A perfectly balanced tomato. If y...Read More

C
Lakewood, CA | August 2013 | positive

I got this from a big box store as "pink potato leaf brandywine," and it has been my "must grow" every year. Great tomatoes. Large, wit...Read More

T
Foothill Farms, CA | March 2013 | positive

I grew a Pink Brandywine for the first time last year. I bought it at a nursery and it was marketed mistakenly as "Red Brandywine" but b...Read More

F
EARLEVILLE, MD (Zone 7b) | March 2012 | positive

Love the Brandywine taste. Poor yields, which is typical Brandywine. Sudduth's Strain doesn't seem to be any real improvement as far as...Read More

R
Yellow Springs, OH | September 2011 | neutral

Rates near the top in flavor, but I get poor yields both in number of fruit and in having to cut away bad portions. Palestinian is a better variety.

H
Tooele, UT | February 2011 | negative

I raised 8 different heirloom tomatoes last year and Brandywine came in dead last. Had a lot of blossom drop (if I need to spend extra t...Read More

C
Fullerton, CA | January 2011 | negative

I have planted Brandywines half a dozen times, including plain Brandywine, Pink Brandywine, Suddeth Strain, and Cowlicks Strain, and they...Read More

R
Newark Valley, NY | September 2009 | positive

Weight-wise, Brandywine ranges from 1-2 lbs. Shape-wise, it’s a good-looking tomato – round, smooth-skinned, and uniform from fruit-...Read More

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B
Toledo, OH (Zone 6a) | July 2009 | negative

Plant was very late producing blossoms, and no tomatoes so far this season, when other plants are loaded and just starting to ripen. Wil...Read More

B
Hayward, CA | August 2007 | positive

Brandywine always seems to win the local Tomato contests. It must like cool summers since only the bay area and those in northern short s...Read More

R
Broomfield, CO | August 2007 | negative

I was glad to see that someone has reported good luck with this strain in Broomfield, Colorado. I had to dig mine out, roots and all, an...Read More

W
Englishtown, NJ (Zone 6b) | August 2006 | positive

I really dont see what the fuss is about. Its not like its the best tomato I ever had --- but here it grew very well. Is very healthy a...Read More

C
mobile, AL (Zone 8a) | July 2006 | neutral

This is a good tasting tomato but the reason why I am giving it a neutral rating is because it's poor production, I don't have a lot of b...Read More

D
D
Pelzer, SC | May 2006 | positive

great tasting, average yields of very large tomatoes. i am in zone 7 of south carolina which due to humidity and high temps is rough on ...Read More

A
Denver, CO (Zone 5b) | March 2006 | positive

I will never ever ever eat another hybrid tomato again. Less disease resistant? Yes, but proper crop rotation and watering the soil inste...Read More

S
S
(Zone 7b) | March 2006 | positive

Not prolific in my climate, but very good tasting.

O
| September 2005 | positive

Delighted to report Brandywine growing well, both indoors and outdoors, in Dublin, Ireland. No one believes it especially since this was ...Read More

U
N.E., WI (Zone 3b) | July 2005 | positive

I have tryed this variety for a few years,,we get a "good"(warm) long tomatoe season about every 3 years here in this true zone 3,, I thi...Read More

G
Waverly, TN (Zone 7a) | July 2005 | positive

Last year was my first year to grow Brandywine. It was truly delicious. Although the first fruit developed blossom end rot, the subsequ...Read More

J
Springfield, OH (Zone 5b) | May 2005 | positive

This is a very late tomato. Later than my regular brandywines. By the time they started to come in I was swamped with tomatoes so I am no...Read More

R
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rjc
Bloomfield, NJ | March 2005 | positive

I have grown this plant for the last three years and can personally say have a most terrific flavour. Only get about 12 tomatoes a plant...Read More

B
Braselton, GA (Zone 8a) | March 2005 | negative

I grew this tomato for the first- and last time this past summer.
It did not like our hot, humid Georgia weather. What few friuts ...Read More

S
East Chatham, NY | December 2004 | negative

My least favorite of the fifteen varieties that I grow. They are so prone to cracking (being so heavily lobed) that most of the friut is ...Read More

J
Moorhead, MN (Zone 4a) | October 2004 | positive

It is a favorite for a reason...great taste.

I find it does best trellised using hanging twines rather than my concrete me...Read More

B
Sacramento, CA | August 2004 | positive

Thank God for this database. I now know what I have growing in our tomato garden.

This was an incredible year for growing ...Read More

T
T
Chicago, IL (Zone 6a) | August 2004 | positive

This is my first year growing this Tomato. So far this year it has been a big success in Chicago.

It was the first tomato...Read More

P
P
Menifee, CA | May 2004 | negative

This is the 2nd time I am trying Brandywines. Last year I had a beautiful plant, many blossoms, not one tomato. All blossoms fell off. ...Read More

F
Central Point, OR (Zone 7a) | May 2004 | neutral

I grew the pink Brandywine two years in a row. I had lots of volunteers the second year from the first year. Most of the plants were trai...Read More

J
Seattle, WA | May 2004 | neutral

It is still very early in the season, however I have noticed that the leaves of this plant are diffrent from all the other tomato's I hav...Read More

B
Cotton Valley, LA | December 2003 | positive

This is a great tomato. I had no trouble growing it in my Louisiana garden. Huge fruit with great flavor and lots of tomatoes.

F
Augusta, GA (Zone 8a) | November 2003 | neutral

At this point, we are discussing several cultivars under the same heading. Pictures and most of the discussion is about the pink Branywin...Read More

T
Albany, NY | November 2003 | positive

I have grown Brandywine the last two seasons; the overall result (flavor) is worth the effort. Plants reach 36-42" caged. One main stem w...Read More

D
St. Petersburg, FL (Zone 10b) | September 2003 | negative

This one came out of the gate like a race horse. However, it died before the finish. I've tried 3 different type of this gene and not one...Read More

S
Cincinnati, OH | August 2003 | positive

I grew it last year (south Ohio, humid summers) and only got 3 fruits at the end of september. Worth it for that taste, though. Growing a...Read More

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L
Mount Angel, OR (Zone 8a) | July 2003 | neutral

I only grew this one once and it did very well here, grew a huge bush and huge tomatoes. I didn't care for its flavor as much as other to...Read More

R
| July 2003 | neutral

I grew two of these plants last season. Despite achieving a great height, they only produced three tomatoes between them. I'd post a "N...Read More

C
C
(Carole) Cleveland, TX (Zone 9a) | July 2003 | negative

I got my plant in at a swap, and was so excited to see the large red tomatoes. I live in Texas (Zone 8). Normally we grow tomatoes in ful...Read More

T
San Antonio, TX | June 2003 | positive

We just put one plant out on our deck but it's done great. Fruit set was slow at first but I just shook the tomatoe cage gently each tim...Read More

T
Crossville, TN (Zone 6a) | March 2003 | positive

I live in Middle Tennessee and these plants performed beautifully for me. I planted 75 of them in my garden and none of them disappointe...Read More

C
C
| March 2003 | negative

West Kootenay, BC, Canada..
In 2002, an extraordinary year for growing here, this tomato was generally a poor performer.
La...Read More

A
Casey, IA | February 2003 | neutral

I have grown these for several years in Iowa and still don't know what all the fuss is about. I sometimes wonder if the seed stock is tai...Read More

D
D
(Zone 5b) | September 2002 | positive

I love the taste of this tomato! Yes, some of the fruit does crack when ripening fully on the vines, but it seems to me an abundance of r...Read More

S
| August 2002 | positive

I'm growing Brandywine this year. We have hot humid summers here in Ottawa, Canada, and it seems to do well in this climate. I had some ...Read More

C
| August 2002 | negative

In my area disease resistance is a must. It has been my experience that this variety has no disease tolerance at all. My plants started o...Read More

L
L
| August 2002 | positive

This variety produces very well here in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. I grow in a comunity garden center and it is a l...Read More

J
| July 2002 | negative

Another green thumb's down for the Brandywine. Though I am only about 2 hours from "Amish" country, this tomato doesn't flourish here in ...Read More

M
M
| June 2002 | negative

Brandywine is NOT a good tomato for the Southeastern U.S. I have grown it for two years in coastal South Carolina and have not been h...Read More

M
M
Benton, KY (Zone 7a) | May 2002 | neutral

More 'tomato myths' have been told about Brandywine than any other. It has been tacked with the Amish Heirloom reputation,but in reality ...Read More

L
Grove City, OH (Zone 6a) | May 2002 | neutral

One of most famous heirlooms. Consistently rated highest in flavor.

Tomatoes are so big they ripen very unevenly: the bot...Read More

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