Brandywine 101

[Barmaley]

I bought Brandywine pink by "Back to the roots" from Lowe's and then I saw just Brandywine. Doing research I fond that there are many difference brandywines around some sudduth, some yellow etc. Can someone clarify what are they and which is the best since I don't have room for all of them!

[Sue_CT]

In my opinion Sudduth is the best. Cowlicks and OTV are also popular. There are way too many for me to rememberall the linages ,lol. Sudduth is most often considered the "orgininal" I believe.

[PNW_D]

can't recommend the best .......

but a great source of info on Brandywine thru the ages

http://www.webgrower.com/information/cr ... ywine.html

[Sue_CT]

Awesome! I had forgotten about that and I didn't' really want to link to Carolyn's dissertation on another site!

[Paulf]

A good place to view all the named "Brandywine" tomatoes is http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Main_Page. Click on information and tomatoes, go to the "B" section and all the Brandywines are listed along with descriptions, photos and histories.

I like Sudduth, Cowlicks and the Red Brandywine.

[FarmerShawn]

Yes, Brandywine Sudduth's Strain is supposed to be the original Brandywine, and still the best. It is not, however, known for very high production. Cowlick's may be the same thing, but is supposed to have better production. I have grown both for years, side by side, and can neither confirm nor deny. I'm mostly just happy to have more Brandywines. Red Brandywine, I believe, may not even be related, but it is still a very nice, smaller, rounder tomato which I have grown every year for years. I also grow Brandywine From Croatia and Liam's Brandywine, which, again, are not true Brandywines, though I cannot say if they are related or not. But both are regular leaf, while Brandywine Sudduth's Strain and Brandywine Cowlick's are potato-leafed. I'm trying out Black Brandywine this year, but I doubt that it is really much like the real thing. I have hopes for it nevertheless...
Shawn

[Doffer]

It would be nice if someone could test the different Brandywine strains side by side and describe the differences and similarities in an article.

[Doffer]

In Amy Goldman her book is the original Red Brandywine. It have the highest brix of all beef tomatoes in the book. The brix is 7,5 and sometimes even 9. It have a very good taste.
The pink brandywine with potato leaves have a brix of 6 and is also good tasting.
The Yellow Brandywine have a orange color and the brix is 7. Also good tasting.

[Tormato]

I've tried just about all of them; Brandywine Sudduth, Glick's, Red, Cowlick's, from Croatia, Yellow, Yellow Platfoot strain, Liam's, etc...

"Brandywine" is often an imposter at farmers markets, getting $1.00 a pound more than the other tomatoes.

In my opinion, Brandywine Sudduth is by far the best of them all. The problem is that it may be the single most finicky variety in trying to maximize its flavor. I get great tasting tomatoes once in about every five years. I believe there are many, many growers that have never tasted Brandywine Sudduth at its full potential.

[maxjohnson]

I don't think there is best, there are heirloom brandy, open pollinated brandy, and hybrid brandy. And then there are open pollinated that were breed from a brandy variety and another variety.

I guess if you want less disease and good production, you could try hybrid.

Sudduth's strain is probably the best tasting beefsteak I have grown. But it is not productive and tend to catch disease.

Cowlick's Brandywine is very productive given the right growing condition. I had to canned it because there were too much.

IMG_20190727_104716.jpg

[Doffer]

[mention]Tormato[/mention] What conditions need the pink Brandywine Sudduth to give perfect tasting fruit?

[zendog]

I grew Cowlick a few years ago and it surprised me by being more productive than I had expected, particularly in my hot and humid area. It didn't set big clusters like some others, but it was steady with one to two a week from mid-July until fall. I grew it as a single stem, grafted to a hybrid rootstock as I do for all my larger fruited heirlooms. This year I'm bringing it back and also growing Joyce's since I understand it is a selection of Sudduth someone in Maryland developed for our area... also because I had the seeds. It will be interesting to see if there is much difference. Being in the mid-Atlantic I don't think this is really considered good Brandywine country.

I also grew Yellow Brandywine last year which became my favorite yellow/orange beefsteak for flavor and this year I'm trying the Platfoot strain to hopefully get a bit more production and more consistent shapes.

For crosses, I'm growing Mat Su Express, which I understand is a cross of Cowlick's and Bloody Butcher. Thanks MMMM!

[Sue_CT]

Brandywine seems to do best in zones 5-6, with warm sunny days that are not too hot and humid. It tends not to produce very well in Southern areas with higher temps and humidity. In cooler nothern areas the season tends to be too short to get good production. It is usually considered a late tomato, but it astounded me one year by giving me my first tomato of the year! I unlike some others though, I do not often get bad tomatoes from BS.Too much water like any tomato plant can water down the flavor. Other than that, they always taste good to me, but my zone 6a is pretty much the Goldilocks zone for it.

[westside bengal]

Speaking of Cowlick's Brandywine, does any know whatever happened to Camochef (Mike) it's founder? He was pretty active a few years back on several tomato/gardening forums. I have always thought he would would like it here.

[MissS]

He got into a disagreement with some folks on IDig and sadly decided that he was done with forums.

[Tormato]

@Tormato What conditions need the pink Brandywine Sudduth to give perfect tasting fruit?

My reference is 3 perfect years out of about 15 years of on-again off-again trialing.

Each season had virtually no rain, which means controlled watering.
Each season was warm to very warm , but not excessively hot. Temps mostly in the mid 80's.
Each season had lots of hazy sunshine, not many bluebird skies.

Since none of those things are in one's control, I've come up with a plan that I've yet to try. I would hill up the soil going out more than a foot from the plant stem. If heavy rain was due, I'd cover the hill with plastic so that the water runs away from the root ball. I'd also set up shade cloth to imitate hazy sunshine. And then I'd do a lot of praying.

If anyone thinks they've had Brandywine Sudduth at its most intense flavor but aren't sure, I'll just say that I cannot eat a Brandywine two days in a row. My taste buds do need a rest. The only other tomato in this category, for me, is Aunt Gertie's Gold.

[Tormato]

Brandywine seems to do best in zones 5-6, with warm sunny days that are not too hot and humid. It tends not to produce very well in Southern areas with higher temps and humidity. In cooler nothern areas the season tends to be too short to get good production. It is usually considered a late tomato, but it astounded me one year by giving me my first tomato of the year! I unlike some others though, I do not often get bad tomatoes from BS.Too much water like any tomato plant can water down the flavor. Other than that, they always taste good to me, but my zone 6a is pretty much the Goldilocks zone for it.

Thump the clump.

Extreme high temps and humidity don't go together for good pollination and production. But high humidity gives me those hazy days which can lead to superb flavor. I go out and thump the trusses twice a day to compensate for any pollen clumping. Brandywine Sudduth, Aunt Ginny's Purple, and a few others are the ones worth doing every day. If I have time, I'll do the other 150 plants.

[Tormato]

It would be nice if someone could test the different Brandywine strains side by side and describe the differences and similarities in an article.

That article would be long and inconclusive. As an example, growing Brandywine Sudduth and Brandywine Cowlick's side-by-side, Cowlicks (very good to excellent) would beat Sudduth (mediocre) in a taste test 3 out of 5 years, they'd tie 1 in 5 years (anywhere from bland to very good), and Sudduth (SUPERB) would blow Cowlick's (very good to excellent) out of the county 1 in 5 years.

[Paulf]

Side-by-side testing of any varieties would exhibit Tormato's hypothesis. I totally agree about the differently named Brandywines. Some are similar to each other, some are not. How each does in any year or stretch of years depends on conditions and location. My Sudduth's and Cowlicks have different results from those grown in the deep southeast but still the point is valid.

The only varieties that match up for me every year are Kellogg's Breakfast and KBX. The sisters/cousins? remarkably mirror each other no matter what. But this line of thinking would be another long article considering which tomatoes are more like each other than different.