Big Tomato

Hammock Gal - I was trying to say: Close enough!  

SR - Taste was excellent! I'll grow these again. Even with the splitting and cat-facing these did better than some other varieties. Yes, some of my tomatoes rotted on the vine this year. There was one - not sure which type - that I tried to pick and the outside came off, but the gooey inside gel and seeds was still attached to the stem! Eeeuw.

Oxheart has also been nice, though those didn't get as big as I expected...but they got in late due to poor planning (put them in after the peas that take the longest to mature instead of the quickest I definitely didn't think that through!).

Which Brandywine do you have? I've read the name/type is a bit muddled. My plants have potato leaves, and the maters are (were...) pink and big - I'd guess a little over a pound a piece, but the rot and slugs got most of them. I salvaged part of one, and while the flavor was good, and the texture, but it wasn't mind-blowing. I'd heard they were pretty good, so I was wondering if it's the weather, or if I have the 'wrong' Brandywine - or just different tomato taste preferences.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Hammock Gal - I was trying to say: Close enough!  

SR - Taste was excellent! I'll grow these again. Even with the splitting and cat-facing these did better than some other varieties. Yes, some of my tomatoes rotted on the vine this year. There was one - not sure which type - that I tried to pick and the outside came off, but the gooey inside gel and seeds was still attached to the stem! Eeeuw.

Oxheart has also been nice, though those didn't get as big as I expected...but they got in late due to poor planning (put them in after the peas that take the longest to mature instead of the quickest I definitely didn't think that through!).

Which Brandywine do you have? I've read the name/type is a bit muddled. My plants have potato leaves, and the maters are (were...) pink and big - I'd guess a little over a pound a piece, but the rot and slugs got most of them. I salvaged part of one, and while the flavor was good, and the texture, but it wasn't mind-blowing. I'd heard they were pretty good, so I was wondering if it's the weather, or if I have the 'wrong' Brandywine - or just different tomato taste preferences.

I went out and got these after seeing your post!   I will be starting them in early February.
Any suggestions or advice?

brianj555 wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:SR - Taste was excellent! I'll grow these again. Even with the splitting and cat-facing these did better than some other varieties.

I went out and got these after seeing your post!   I will be starting them in early February.
Any suggestions or advice?

I was about to object to February being too soon, but you're 3-4 zones from me, and can probably get your tomatoes out much earlier. I had no problem starting this variety; start as you would any other tomato - for me that's indoors, under grow lights, with light bottom heat. I soaked my seeds for 2 hours before sowing them, but it's not a necessary step ...and it makes them slippery and hard to work with.

My favorite Big Tomato is Cherokee Purple. They are just the tastiest tomato ever. Second is Big Beef. Third is Cour di Bue, an Italian heirloom oxheart, it is a sauce tomato and excells when roasted and canned.
I did once try Pink Brandywine. It was not very prolific and the taste was 'meh'. I was not sure if it was the year, my yard, me personally, or what.

Brian, I'm Zone 9, a little north of your latitude. I start summer seedlings indoors in late Feb-early March. We had a long, rainy, cool spring so I was late planting out the seedlings. Some years, the spring is warm and the ground is warm earlier. It's hard to pick the perfect date seed because Mother Nature is a prankster. Just be prepared to up-pot and take them out on warmer, sunny days if you can't plant them when you thought you could. Early Feb may be the better date for you to start the seedlings.

sanderson wrote:Brian,  I'm Zone 9, a little north of your latitude.  I start summer seedlings indoors in late Feb-early March.  We had a long, rainy, cool spring so I was late planting out the seedlings.  Some years, the spring is warm and the ground is warm earlier.  It's hard to pick the perfect date seed because Mother Nature is a prankster.  Just be prepared to up-pot and take them out on warmer, sunny days if you can't plant them when you thought you could.  Early Feb may be the better date for you to start the seedlings.

Yeah.  According to my extension, projected last frost date is 3/17.  ( I'm 9b coastal)I guess I might need to consider starting the tomatoes a little later just in case.  I will have 80 squares ready and will be using about 20 or 25 (at least ) for tomatoes.  My grandfather, who passed away a few years ago, planted a substantial tomato crop (tradition row) and basically kept the whole family (20+ people locally) in garden fresh tomatoes for about three months each year.  We haven't had anyone growing anything since he passed and I have become the sole Gardener.  I hope to be able to grow enough to share , if only a little here and there.  Anyway, I said all that to say that since I will have so many plants, I really don't want to have to do a lot of up potting and moving in and out as that would become cumbersome.  So I guess if I start them a little later, the need for up potting and the chance of the transplants dying from a late frost will be reduced.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:

brianj555 wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:SR - Taste was excellent! I'll grow these again. Even with the splitting and cat-facing these did better than some other varieties.

I went out and got these after seeing your post!   I will be starting them in early February.
Any suggestions or advice?

I was about to object to February being too soon, but you're 3-4 zones from me, and can probably get your tomatoes out much earlier. I had no problem starting this variety; start as you would any other tomato - for me that's indoors, under grow lights, with light bottom heat. I soaked my seeds for 2 hours before sowing them, but it's not a necessary step ...and it makes them slippery and hard to work with.

You are gonna fall in love.....but timing.  Ask a person from your region!  The best BLT in your life!