Brandywine-specific question

Any way you can create a protective cover over your tomatoes, like a hoop house, teepee, or X-frame with a ridgepole over which you can drape clear plastic? It’d be warmer in the daytime, helping tomatoes to ripen, and could be insulated with Goodwill quilts and such for nighttime drops in temperatures. Might buy you a couple of weeks of ripening time. Nonna (who has one long bed draped with plastic even as we speak)

I guess I was thinking that there is really no point in leaving the blossoms and tiny toms on. The vines are now at least 6 or 7 feet tall and are producing lots of new blossoms. Just saying.

greatgranny wrote:Live in zone 4. First frost can happen as early as Sept. 15. My brandywines still have quite a few green tomatoes on. Should I start to cut the branches that don't have fruit so that all of the energy goes to the fruit? How about the top most branches that still have flowers and/or very small toms?

Here is what I do, (also zone 4).. cut off all branches with out tomatoes and with tiny tomatoes and all blossoms off. A really hard pruning. Then take a shovel and cut some roots a couple inches from the stem. You want to shock the plant so it hurries to ripen the fruit it has. GWN has mentioned also putting a ripe banana under the plant to stimulate ripening. I mean to try that.

Protect as long as possible like Nonna says.

Turan wrote:

greatgranny wrote:Live in zone 4. First frost can happen as early as Sept. 15. My brandywines still have quite a few green tomatoes on. Should I start to cut the branches that don't have fruit so that all of the energy goes to the fruit? How about the top most branches that still have flowers and/or very small toms?

Here is what I do, (also zone 4).. cut off all branches with out tomatoes and with tiny tomatoes and all blossoms off. A really hard pruning. Then take a shovel and cut some roots a couple inches from the stem. You want to shock the plant so it hurries to ripen the fruit it has. GWN has mentioned also putting a ripe banana under the plant to stimulate ripening. I mean to try that.

Protect as long as possible like Nonna says.

I think I will do the pruning as you suggested and then have the blankets ready for if it's going to freeze. The large ones are so awesome. Never had toms like these ever in all the years that I have gardened. MM is surely responsible for most of the success. Well, I do talk to them occasionally. JK

Thanks to both of you for your input. Appreciate it.

Okay, so I did the pruning. Mind you, the foliage was very dense. Maybe I should have done it sooner because I found some medium size and small size green toms that had definite signs of horn worm. Couldn't see any of the varmints but I found their handy work. They have not attacked the leaves or the ripe toms. I am wondering why this time of the year when I have had nothing wrong until now.

So far no signs on my eggplant or peppers.

I did notice the moths earlier in the summer but was unaware at the time that they were laying eggs. They hovered over all of the plants, not just the nightshade ones. Any way to discourage the moths?

Will it be okay to put the pruned branches in the compost pile or should I just bag them up and put in the garbage?

greatgranny: I'd think you could compost the trimmings, being as how a hot compost pile will kill any moth eggs. Any contrary thoughts out there? And, BTW, what do y'all think of Brandywine's tomato flavor? I'm growing Suddeth's Strain, and think it's a bit "blah." Perhaps that's because the Black Sea Man growing next to it is spot-on for great tomato flavor IMHO. Could it be that different parts of the country give more flavor to this traditional tomato? Is it a soil thing like (supposedly) grapes give to wine? Weather? I'd like to hear what others know, think, opine, feel about this flavor thing. Nonna

Nonna:
It seemed like every seed calalog I got said that the pink Brandywine is the best tomato and it is a good tomato, but I too grew others not knowing what to expect.

My wife didn't hesitate to put them in order though.

1 Mr. Stripey...didn't set well in the high heat.

2 WV 63 Very prolific and huge yields.

3 Branywine.

Anyway we should all get together and put a list of pros and cons of what we grew and problems we had; perhaps it is a regional problem as well.

Good idea, Floyd. I'll start in the tomato division for hills west of St. Helens, OR:

1. Black Sea Man (large, great flavor, lots of fruit)
2. Indigo Rose (small, funny color, but good flavor, lots and lots of fruit)
3. Dagma's Perfection (large, yellow, delicious--would be #1 if not so late)
4. Early Girl (usually successful, good salsa tomato)

I think you may be on to something about different regions having different results with the same tomatoes. The best producer I have is the WV 63 that someone from southern WVa sent me last year but was it a more productive variety or is it better suited for other areas as well.

Now my Mr. Stripey was my wifes favorite but it only produced 4 tomatoes on the one plant. Have been looking for a similar tomato and the Hilbillie look good but I would rather here the pro's and con's from someone who has grown them. Perhaps we should start a new topic in the fall regarding how others did with their tomatoes in different areas.

floyd1440 wrote:Perhaps we should start a new topic in the fall regarding how others did with their tomatoes in different areas.

I second that.

CC

Hey CC

I was thinking about what nonna had said about different regions and that some toms would grow better in certain parts of the country. But if we use Mel's mix should it only be the hardness zone we are in?

If I was planting a "row" garden then the soil would be different around the different regions but we all use the same. Or am I way off here??

:scratch:

Many things beside soil (MM) affect the growth of tomatoes. Heat, humidity, water, day length, diseases in various parts of the country, etc. For instance, my Brandywine has only produced 3 tomatoes (the best tasting tomato I have ever eaten). The heat kept the tomatoes from setting. But now that it has cooled off a little, I have about 20 tomatoes setting on.

Only have brandywine toms this year. The variety I planted was the red one. The tag didn't say a specific type of brandywine. So far I have harvested 22 ripe toms and had to destroy 3 green ones that had the horn worm holes. Still have quite a few on the vines. Had one that was almost 2 lbs.

Regarding the composting of the vines that I cut - I think I may not compost them on the chance that the pile may not get hot enough to kill any eggs that may be hiding. I'm going to let them dry and then burn them in my fire pit.

Regarding the different results that we have seen this year regarding this variety - I don't think it has anything to do with the soil type. I have mine on the east side of the house so that it isn't in the sun all day. I believe that when it is too hot they don't produce. I have been fortunate that the evenings have not been that hot for the most of the summer where I live.

Will I plant them again next year? Yes. I personally like the flavor and the roasted toms I have made and put in the freezer has been very flavorful.

yolos wrote:Many things beside soil (MM) affect the growth of tomatoes. Heat, humidity, water, day length, diseases in various parts of the country, etc. For instance, my Brandywine has only produced 3 tomatoes (the best tasting tomato I have ever eaten). The heat kept the tomatoes from setting. But now that it has cooled off a little, I have about 20 tomatoes setting on.

Even in Pa. we had a lot of hot days and also suffered low number of tomatoes setting but now they are doing better but the season here is closing down.

I only grew the pink brandywine but wonder if the red is more productive?

floyd1440 wrote:
Even in Pa. we had a lot of hot days and also suffered low number of tomatoes setting but now they are doing better but the season here is closing down.

I only grew the pink brandywine but wonder if the red is more productive?

You may have a point about the pink vs red.

greatgranny wrote:Only have brandywine toms this year. The variety I planted was the red one. The tag didn't say a specific type of brandywine. So far I have harvested 22 ripe toms and had to destroy 3 green ones that had the horn worm holes. Still have quite a few on the vines. Had one that was almost 2 lbs.

Regarding the composting of the vines that I cut - I think I may not compost them on the chance that the pile may not get hot enough to kill any eggs that may be hiding. I'm going to let them dry and then burn them in my fire pit.

Regarding the different results that we have seen this year regarding this variety - I don't think it has anything to do with the soil type. I have mine on the east side of the house so that it isn't in the sun all day. I believe that when it is too hot they don't produce. I have been fortunate that the evenings have not been that hot for the most of the summer where I live.

Will I plant them again next year? Yes. I personally like the flavor and the roasted toms I have made and put in the freezer has been very flavorful.

How many red Brandywines did you plant this year?

floyd1440 wrote:

How many red Brandywines did you plant this year?

I had two plants on a trellis. Literally took over the entire trellis.

This is the last picture that I took before I pruned. (taken on Aug. 9)



Now have picked 25 toms. (average weight - 14.3 oz.) If the rest make it before frost I should go over 35. (that is if the horn worms leave them alone - still haven't seen any but that doesn't mean they are not there.)

greatgranny wrote:

floyd1440 wrote:

How many red Brandywines did you plant this year?

I had two plants on a trellis. Literally took over the entire trellis.

This is the last picture that I took before I pruned. (taken on Aug. 9)



Now have picked 25 toms. (average weight - 14.3 oz.) If the rest make it before frost I should go over 35. (that is if the horn worms leave them alone - still haven't seen any but that doesn't mean they are not there.)

Thanks for the pictures....very impressive yields!!! But I looked through my old seed calatogs and could not find any red Brandywines. I think you said you got yours at a nursery. Well I just got a Seed Saver catalog and they have the red brandy's too!!!. They also say they are smaller than the pinks but higher yielding as you have reported.

My highest producer this season was the W.Va 63 and am now saving some seeds and may go with the red brand's next year to see which one is better....

Oh my goodness! 25 on 2 plants??? I have one plant with a total of 2 (aka two) fruits. I planted it late spring and it didn't grow for the longest time and when I finally dug it out see what was wrong, there was the peat pot, or maybe it was coconut fiber, still on it. Won't do that again!

CC

CapeCoddess wrote:Oh my goodness! 25 on 2 plants??? I have one plant with a total of 2 (aka two) fruits. I planted it late spring and it didn't grow for the longest time and when I finally dug it out see what was wrong, there was the peat pot, or maybe it was coconut fiber, still on it. Won't do that again!

CC

The incredible part is that it eventually got to about 7 feet tall before I pruned it out a few weeks ago. The whole thing was so heavy that my trellis almost tipped over so I had to tie a rope to it and anchor it to a post. There are still many green ones that I hope will make it. Am watching the weather forecasts quite often. One day next week it is supposed to get to about 39. I live in a low area so I will most likely blanket it just to be on the safe side.

Floyd, I wonder if you are right. This being my first year with this variety - I would not be able to know the answer. As long as this is so productive, I have saved some seeds for next year. Hopefully it will work out.

The following is the best web site I have ever seen when wanting information on specific varieties of vegetables. I was searching for information on various broccoli varieties and stumbled upon reviews for Brandywine. In the upper left you can type in any variety of vegetable and usually get results. Below the map are the reviews by different growers. Check it out.

http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/main/detail.php?variety_id=1671


Based on the reviews for Brandywine, I think I will try the Brandywine - pink Suddath (Quisenberry strain) sold at Johnny's (or so the reviewer said). Apparently heat is a problem with fruit set. I will try to start as early as I can in the spring using row covers. One thing that many of the reviews said was Brandwine are slow to mature. But I picked my first Brandywine at the same time I picked my first Early Girl. Go figure.

Nice site, thanks for the link. Cornell has some really fabulous, info packed Ag website. their compost website rocks too.

yolos ...great link!
thanks
rose

Dear Gardeners,
I want to share some info I learned yesterday from author and gardener Rosalind Creasy about Brandywine tomatoes. She held a seminar on Heirloom Gardening here in Huntington Beach, California. A woman in the Q&A section of Rosalind Creasy's talk asked why her Brandywine tomato plant did not produce tomatoes. Ms. Creasy answered that the Brandywine tomato originated in Ohio and requires perfect pollination or the flower will drop. Brandywine has 8 ovaries, if they don't all get pollinated it aborts. She mentioned that humidity helps with the pollination. She suggested Southern Californian grow Cherokee Purple, better suited for our dryer weather.

I mention this because the earlier discussion where Floyd states,

"different regions having different results with the same tomatoes."

is on the right track. We would probably have success with our heirloom tomatoes which originate in our area or in similiar environmental growing conditions. It definitely explains why my heirloom tomatoes had been such sad producers in the past. I selected based on the description on the label not thinking if this is a good tomato for my region. Not all discription mention the place of origin. I will try heirlooms again but after checking which tomatoes are best for my region.

Sorry, for so long a discussion, and administrator, please forgive me for not knowing how to use the quote feature.

Roseinarosecity.....thank you so much for sharing what you learned!!

as it is fun for me to try a new Varity of tomato because i hear so much about it and really want to Experience the taste....like this year we grew Brandywines.....it was fun...but we didnt get much fruit from them.....im sure it has to do with our PNW weather

we are wanting to grow more for food..... to store....taste is important as well.....finding what grows the best in our area is very Important to us and we are very thankful for this site in that area.....its great to share what works and what doesnt.....your information confirms what we have been feeling.....

im sure we will find room though to try new cool sounding fun varities....cant help that.....it makes gardening fun

hugs
rose