Brandywine tomatoes have been one of the most notable and dear tomato plant cultivar for the last century . Their size of it , flavor , and juiciness are all part of what hit them so popular , especially now that they have been bred into a whole class of unlike colors .
If you are eager to taste growing these delicious heirloom tomato varieties , or just want to learn more about them , this clause is for you !
The Brandywine Tomato Cultivar
Brandywine tomatoes are an heirloom variety that has been work for over 100 years , originating in the USA .
It is have intercourse for taking a long time to reach maturity and being lower give way than other well - known varieties , but for also having an amazingly rich flavor and texture- which is likely why it has remained pop over the years .
Each fruit can consider up to a pound and a one-half , and when cut unresolved they have meaty , luscious flesh- make them great for just about every culinary economic consumption .
Brandywine tomatoes are undetermined , meaning they will continue to grow and coif fruits all time of year long until the first icing sets it .
The vines typically reach about 9 - 10 feet tall , but be cognizant that the fruits will take a long time to ripen- mostly due to their large size- so they should be planted in region that have a long enough growing time of year to ensure they reach maturity which takes around 80 - 90 days .
Physical Characteristics of Brandywine Tomatoes
The ‘ classic ’ Brandywine tomato plant is a pinkie - red people of colour that may maintain tinges of greenish around the theme even when it is fully good . It has the wide , bulging form of beefsteak tomatoes with a slightly pointed tip at the blossom end of the yield .
There are also other cultivar of Brandywine tomato that have been breed to be full pinkish , orangish , or icteric , and they share the same characteristic and general flavor visibility of the original pinky - red Brandywine .
One of the most famous features of this tomato is its leaves , which dissent importantly from the leaves of other mutual tomato variety .
The folio look more like murphy leaves than traditional tomato plant leaves , with smooth edges that do n’t have the characteristic jagged points that tomato leave unremarkably have .
The industrial plant becomes very magniloquent with with child vines designed to carry the heavy fruits . The weight and elevation of this love apple plant make it hard to grow in containers , unless you have a gigantic one , and it needs a full-bodied and stout trellis to support it .
Brandywine Quick Facts Table
Brandywine Tomato
Tomato type :
Slicing tomato
USDA growing zone :
3 - 11
Fruit surrender :
Indeterminate
Fruit colour :
Red , yellow , orangish , and pink cultivar available
Fruit chassis :
Beefsteak
Fruit flavour :
Meaty , low-pitched - acidity , juicy
yield weightiness :
1 - 1.5 lbs
Leaf Shape :
Potato ( quiet , non - erose edges )
flora height :
8 - 10 feet
Days to maturity date :
80- 90 , reckon on the change
Sun Req :
8 - 10 60 minutes per daylight
Soil pH Req :
6.3 - 7.0
How to Grow Brandywine Tomatoes From Seed
Brandywine tomatoes are hugely democratic and may sell out at plant nursery very speedily . The best way to guarantee that you may get your hands on this tasty tomato is to purchase seeds , commonly online , and start up them yourself indoors . Here ’s how :
How to Care for Brandywine Tomato Plants
Brandywine tomato need the same general care requirement that all tomato require , but since they are a later - season tomato that becomes very large there are some specific ways that they should be taken care of- especially in the spring and early summer- to ready them up for succeeder and increase hazard of a large crop .
1:Water at the soil level
Water Brandywine tomato industrial plant once or twice a week , bet on the weather of your part , and give them a good , long overcharge at each lacrimation so that the territory is completely saturated .
Brandywine tomato are , unfortunately , not particularly insubordinate to any diseases and the long amount of time the fruit spend on the vine while they grow and mature imply they can be susceptible to fungous disease such as Anthracnose or Early Blight negative fruits .
The better way to palliate the spread of fungal disease is by watering consistently at the soil level and trying to avoid any water splashing or sitting on the leaves of the plant .
2:Plant in slightly acidic, well-draining soil
Brandywine tomatoes should be planted in soil with a more or less acidic pH of about 6.5 for optimum growth . Like all tomatoes , they need soil with first-class drainage to ascertain the roots do n’t curve up sitting in soggy soil , which can lead to source rot .
Brandywine assortment will do well in loamy , silty or partly flaxen soils but will struggle in heavy clays , and there should be sufficient nutrient for the industrial plant to uptake- see more below about ‘ nitrogen starving ’ .
3:Make sure they get full sun
Brandywine tomato take full Dominicus , at least 8 hour a daylight but ideally 10 , and sufficient heat for the plants to set up themselves up for winner .
There are no shade tolerant miscellany of Brandywine tomato , so keep your best , most in the south - facing spot in your garden for this plant life if you want it to do well .
4:Mulch around plants
Mulching is staggeringly beneficial in maintaining plant health and is particularly of import with this tomato variety as an extra roadblock against disease pathogens that may live in the stain .
A one - inch stratum of drinking straw mulch does admiration in reducing fungal and bacterial disease rates , but ensure it does n’t adjoin the actual stem of the works as liaison with constantly wet subject will cause rotted patches .
Mulching will also conserve moisture in the soil , chill the stain surface .
5:Prevent Disease and Pests
As antecedently mentioned , Brandywines do n’t have any renowned opposition to disease or margin for gadfly , although this may vary depending on the specific variety .
It is specially susceptible to fungous diseases like other Blight , so be the above lachrymation and mulching guidepost and ensure the pathogens do not survive season - to - season by practise craw rotation and move out plant life debris at the end of the season .
6:Use a sturdy trellis
Brandywine tomato vines can become very marvelous , especially in warm Southern climates , so a robust treillage should be set up at the time of planting to verify the vines have enough support throughout the raise season .
They can reach 8 - 9 foundation , so a conducting wire , string , or tall A - frame trellis system will likely be needed , and tomato John Cage wo n’t be large enough for the job- unless they are stacked two tall .
ensure the trellis is set up before planting so that the roots do not become damage later in the season.4
7:Practice ‘nitrogen starving’
N starving is the practice of cut nitrogen in the grease to restrict foliage growth and encourage fruit growth .
Brandywine tomatoes have huge , heavy fruits that need a lot of energy to bring forth , and plant can sometimes end up with a low takings when too much energy is directed at foliage maturation instead of yield production .
This is how you do it : At the rootage of the season , decently after transplanting , the soil should be amended to be evenly nutrient - rich for the first few weeks of growth .
Once the plant life is well established , use a fertilizer that is rich in P and atomic number 19 but lack nitrogen ( 0 - 10 - 10 ) , so that the flora focalize its energy and resource on setting fruits . Once a good number of fruit are growing , you may apply a balanced plant food again .
8:Remove suckers periodically
In addition to nitrogen management , you shouldprune the suckersoff your Brandywine plant for the same reason- to encourage flush and fruit maturation .
Since these plants are known to only produce moderate fruit , you need all the help you may get to assay and guarantee a decent crop , and the colossus tomatoes need lots of space to get without flock of shaggy foliage as well .
Do still leave one or two suckers to grow at a time , as the industrial plant of course does demand some new branch and folio growth for photosynthesis , and new branches will create more tomatoes as well , just ensure suckers are n’t occupy over .
Harvesting Brandywine Tomatoes
The time has eventually come to glean these whale ! This is the second every Brandywine - grower waits for with expectancy , as these long - time of year love apple take a recollective time to mature and develop their touch savor . Make certain to pursue these tips for a successful harvest :
Pick the fruits as soon as they are ripe
Since Brandywines take so long to mature , it ’s important to break up them at the exact second of ripeness , or as secretive to it as you could , to avoid the risk of infection of pest - eaten or damaged fruits .
When they are ripe the lowering fruits are more potential to drop from the vine , which can lead in bruised or totally splattered love apple .
mature yield left on the vine also maintain a window of opportunity open for brute pests like deer that will jubilantly eat all the right fruits in one sitting .
Cut tomatoes off the vine
It is a good approximation to utilize a sharp knife to slice large Brandywine tomato right off the vine , as oppose to wrench them off , as they are exceedingly overweight !
Use two work force and make certain you have a sturdy crateful or box for placing fruit into , as you would n’t want all your long - awaited tomatoes get it to the soil and becoming bruised !
Keep an eye on the weather
Brandywine tomatoes are not break open or crack - repellent , and if a heavy pelting case is forecasted for your orbit you should remove all the fruits on the vine that are of size , even if they are still unripened , and let them finish ripening indoors .
leave them on the vine may result in thefruits splitting subject , which make it difficult for them to finish ripen before the opened crack become musty or invaded by pestilence .
Top plants before the first frost
Brandywine tomatoes are a farsighted - season kind that may take 90 days to hit adulthood . look on your develop zone , this might not leave you with too much clock time at the end of summer to maximize your harvest before the first frost .
About 3 - 4 weeks before the first predicted hoarfrost for your domain , cut the develop tips off the top of your industrial plant to airt all the vigour into mature the giant fruits , so that you may make the most of your plant before it give-up the ghost in the cold .
pen By
Maya is a freelance content author and avid nurseryman presently based in Sweden . She derive her BA in Environment and Geography in Canada , which is also where she first larn about the detriments of the industrialised agricultural organization . During the summer she began raise through the WWOOF program , and over the next six old age has continued to grow and learn at a number of constituent farm and gardens across the US and Canada . She is passionate about the function of regenerative Agriculture Department in wildlife preservation and climate change mitigation , and mean develop your own food is a primal part of revolutionize the system of rules . In her destitute prison term she like to read , garden , and pet nice dog .
