Brandywine-specific question

The tags that came with my plants did not state the variety. Wonder if the nursery in town would know - that's where I purchase them. I am saving seeds for next year. By that time I should know.

I planted the pink brandywine tomatoes and they are the "Quisenberry" strain.

Started them from seeds and seem to be loving this hot weather but will be another 3-4 weeks before I get any to eat.

floyd, have you had a good fruit set with the hot weather? Or as others have mentioned, a stingy set?

Nonna, the tag doesn't say which strain

@llama momma wrote:Nonna, the tag doesn't say which strain

oops, missed the fine print, it's 1885 heirloom amish paste, and its going to be a pink tomato. Good thing I looked again - or I would've thought it was sick.

Brandy wine tomatoes are considered a main season tomato whereas there are many others that are considered early season tomatoes
I am wondering if your other tomato plants aren't just thriving earlier than the brandy wines, and that their time too will come..
Mine are just brandywine, so subset.

I also planted another heirloom, Alicante which is an early season tomato and perhaps quite ahead of my brandy wines

@floyd1440 wrote:I planted the pink brandywine tomatoes and they are the "Quisenberry" strain.

Started them from seeds and seem to be loving this hot weather but will be another 3-4 weeks before I get any to eat.

As this is my first year with Brandywines I am not sure to expect but they look like they are doinf OK.....well one plant I broke the stem while fishing it threw the mesh, but a sucker will take over in time.

My WV 63 are very prolific and will post some pictures of both this week

LlamaMama, you gave me a chuckle! Don't know how many times I've failed to read the fine print. BTW, I checked my Brandywines, and no fruit to date, just blossoms. Husky plants though. However, for the first time ever, we have some fruits that have formed on a potato: variety Chiefton. Just one of the ten or so plants flowered and formed fruits. Now I gotta figure otu what to do with it: let it continue to mature, or.......? What the heck, let's see if it forms viable seed. Nonna

I think it was TooTallTomatoes that was on the forums earlier this year, asking people which strain of brandywine they'd planted? Anyway, I checked mine at the time and found nothing mentioned of type or strain, no fine print either that I had missed. Oh well. We've had a week of warm, dry weather, and my plant certainly looks green and healthy now. Hope to see a baby tom soon.

(Nonna - it must be a potato fruiting year. All my Yukons and and I have one little fruit growing.)

@Nonna.PapaVino wrote:LlamaMama, you gave me a chuckle! Don't know how many times I've failed to read the fine print. BTW, I checked my Brandywines, and no fruit to date, just blossoms. Husky plants though. However, for the first time ever, we have some fruits that have formed on a potato: variety Chiefton. Just one of the ten or so plants flowered and formed fruits. Now I gotta figure otu what to do with it: let it continue to mature, or.......? What the heck, let's see if it forms viable seed. Nonna

You and I must remember -- read the fine print! Also my brandywine is soo different looking, large potato like leaves and quite husky as you said, I thought my plant was a weird dud at first. I got potato fruit off my yukons this year but found out there were 66 crossings that finally created yukon gold potatoes, so I didn't want to risk growing something inferior. I wonder if chieftons went through a lot of genetic mixing too, and if its worth bothering with the seeds.

I have 2 fruits on my brandywine now

LlamaMomma, Based on this entry in a 2008 blog (http://tinyfarmblog.com/potato-fruit/ ) I think I'll try to save and plant some seed from the Chieftain potato 'fruits'. What if it throws a really good potato that grows well here on Yankton Hill? What if it just makes potatoes good for composting? Don't know, but I love to experiment! And, I'll have another decomposed bale bed next year to plant in! What's to lose? (wish me luck) Nonna

Allrighty then! Luck is being wished!
I've seen other forums that go into the potato seed growing fun. Tom wagner? I think is his name, there is a link somewhere in the white search box. I guess I'm not one for experimenting much.

Quick question. If it is getting near the first frost in my area - that would be September 17 - October 27, would it be wise to pull any blossoms and/or tiny tomatoes to give the plant a chance to complete the ones that are larger?

That was a definite "run on sentence".

Here are some pics of my Brandywines......





And WV 63...

GreatGranny: My mother, raised in the mountain area of Idaho, said they would pull the tomato vines at the end of summer, remove the smallest fruits and hang the vines with moderate fruits in the root celler, where the larger tomatoes would continue to ripen. Of course, fruits with even a blush of color were set on a window sill to fully color up. Anyone else with this experience, or memory? Nonna

Yes, I've tried that. Didn't work for me though. I know that one can use the green tomatoes for things like tomato mincemeat, and of course, fried green tomatoes. I don't happen to like the later.

@Nonna.PapaVino wrote:GreatGranny: My mother, raised in the mountain area of Idaho, said they would pull the tomato vines at the end of summer, remove the smallest fruits and hang the vines with moderate fruits in the root celler, where the larger tomatoes would continue to ripen. Of course, fruits with even a blush of color were set on a window sill to fully color up. Anyone else with this experience, or memory? Nonna

I almost think GWN posted pictures when she first joined the forum of tomatoes on the plant ripening in her basement? Or was it peppers I can't remember, but I almost think it was GWN. If I'm way off here I apologize.

I have 2 Brandywine tomato plants that are on one of SFG's trellis. They have literally taken over the entire trellis and are actually making the trellis lean a bit. There are about 25 large tomatoes and some smaller ones. Only 1 is showing signs of getting ripe.

I am wondering if I could go out with my scissors and search for branches that have nothing developing - (blossoms, etc.) and cut them. I think it would free up some congestion and put more energy into the ones that are already there. Yes, I have been removing suckers but now the foliage is so thick I can't even see them anymore. Any thoughts?

@greatgranny wrote:Any thoughts?

I would thin them out.

Just noticed this thread.
Brandywines, I am finding are very late this year, ROOSTER, it was me, about the ripening in the basement, but it was the peppers that I cut off at the base of the plant and placed in vases.
The tomatoes I picked all of the green ones around the first frost and placed them in my basement on slated trays and we had tomatoes right up until christmas.
I had to go down weekly and remove any tomatoes that appeared to be rotting,
however I had so many of them it was not a problem, we were eating tomatoes from the garden from July first until christmas. which here in zone 5 is pretty good.
I have been told that when you harvest green tomatoes and plan to store them until ripe, that you wash them in a bath with a teensy amount of chlorine bleach in it
I did not do this, and perhaps my tomatoes might have lasted longer.

@CharlesB wrote:

@greatgranny wrote:Any thoughts?

I would thin them out.

Did remove a few and found some of the suckers that I missed. Wasn't out there long enough to really take out that much. I think next year I had better be more picky about having only 1 stem from the plant. Shame on me.

I have never had tomato plants produce this well, ever. One is about ready to pick. It is huge.

One year (probably 15 years ago) I pulled out my tomato plant and hung it upside down in the basement. There was to be a freeze that night. The fruit did ripen nicely over time. It was so long ago that I can't remember much more details. Another year I pulled off all the green tomatoes again because of a freeze. I had about 50 tomatoes, all different sizes. Most of those ripened. Some were just too immature or something to turn red. I have never tried fried green tomatoes but I have heard it is great!

Then again, one could use the green tomatoes in various pickle, salsa, chutney, etc. recipes. This online source for recipes (especially the Italian Farmhouse Green Tomato Pickles by Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table fame) sounds really good: http://tipnut.com/green-tomato-recipes/