The pink Brandywine beefsteak tomato was the first to emerge. It is an open pollinated heritage tomato with the potato leaf.
The fruit of this indeterminate tomato vine is large (1 lb. or more) with ribbed, green shoulders. It is prone to cracking but the flavor is wonderful if you plant the seeds of a good strain.
The variety has been traced back to Ohio but may not have originated there. The original Quisenberry/Sudduth strain quickly became popular among home growers who saved and shared their own seeds. Thus, many different strains have developed. Some exhibiting better qualities than others.
Yellow Brandywine Tomato
This is a strongly flavored, gold-skinned version of the pink Brandywine. This indeterminate tomato plant also bears the potato leaf.
There is a Platfoot Brandywine yellow tomato strain which is reputed to be higher yeilding than the original yellow strain.
Brandywine Red Tomato
Red Brandywine fruit is a bit smaller than the pink or yellow varieties. It is slightly ribbed, crack resistant, and tends not to display green shoulders. The flavor is at least as good as that of the other colors. Many gardeners consider it to be the best flavored of the lot.
The indeterminate vines bear heavily and have the normal tomato leaf.
This variety originated on farms in Chester County, PA in 1885.
There is a potato leaved Brandywine red tomato strain as well.
Black Brandywine
This is an unstable strain which produces smaller fruit than all the others. The purple fruit is crack prone with ribbed shoulders. The flavor varies.
The indeterminate tomato plants appear with either potato or regular tomato leaves. It is thought to be an accidental cross between the pink Brandywine and the
Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato.
How to Grow Tomato Brandywine
Space the plants 3-4 feet apart in full sun and well draining, composted soil.
See
How to Stake Tomatoes
for information on tomato supports as the tall growing vines will need to be trellised or staked.
Expect these big tomatoes to begin to ripen in 70-80 days.
The best way to use the fruit is fresh in a salad, sliced in a tomato sandwich, and as a
canning tomato.
This heritage tomato is not as disease resistant as a modern hybrid variety or even other heirloom tomato plants but the flavor makes it worth growing anyway.
If you grow them and the flavor is nothing to write home about, you have gotten hold of an inferior strain. Toss the seeds and try buying seed from a different company next season.
Spray the plants with a fungicide to stave off
early blight
and lime the soil to prevent blossom end rot.
Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Heirloom tomato seeds. Buy seed for growing heritage tomatoes. Best heirloom tomato varieties. Open pollinated, standard cherry tomato seed.
Tomato Plant Care
Tomato plant care. About feeding and watering tomatoes. The best tomato fertilizer formulation. Controlling tomato plant pests like tomato hornworm.
Saving Tomato Seed
Successfully saving tomato seed. How to save tomato seeds from your homegrown tomatoes. Harvesting, drying and keeping tomato seeds. Heirloom and open pollinated tomato plants.
Beefsteak Tomato Plants and Seeds
Beefsteak tomatoes are types of tomatoes that produce giant fruits. Most are indeterminate tomatoes which will require staking. Some are heirloom or heritage tomatoes. Others are modern hybrids.
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