How to Grow Brandywine Tomato Plants

Growing Brandywine Tomato Plants

The Brandywine tomato is a very popular heirloom tomato variety, dating back hundreds of years. Additionally, it is among the best-tasting varieties available.

If you have never grown Brandywine tomatoes in your home garden, you’re certainly in for a treat.

Brandywine tomato varieties are either pink or red. Pink is the most popular.

Brandywine Tomato Description

Brandywine tomato plants grow large, potato-like leaves on indeterminate vines.

The large, beefsteak-shaped fruit weighs up to 1 1/2 pounds. The skin is pink with sometimes green streaked shoulders. Pink meat is thick and has a great tomato flavor.

Plant yields are lower than most varieties. What it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality.

Days to Maturity: 80-90 from setting transplants in the garden. This plant is among the slowest growing varieties. However, its superb taste is well worth the wait

Brandywine tomato cultivar dates back hundreds of years. Its exact origin is unknown. It first appeared in a Burpee seed catalog in 1886.

How to Start Tomato Seeds

Tomato plants are usually started indoors. Planting tomato seeds is an exciting time. It is one of the very first gardening projects of the year. Without a doubt, after a long winter, you are itching to get your hands back into some “dirt”.

Begin starting tomato seeds indoors in small containers, eight to ten weeks before the last frost date for your area. First, select sterile containers. Then, sow Brandywine tomato seeds about 1/8″ inch deep, using sterile seed starting soil. Seeds sprout in 10-14 days, depending upon soil temperature. We highly recommend a germination mat for starting plants indoors. Without a doubt, germination mats help to sprout seeds faster and with a higher germination rate.

As soon as the seedlings emerge, they need full sunlight to grow sturdy. Lack of sunlight causes the plants to grow “leggy”. Because of this, we highly recommend using grow lights to supplement the amount of available sunlight.

Tip: To help your plants grow sturdy, place a small fan on low nearby. Or, lightly brush the tops of the plants with your hands a couple of times each day.

How to Grow Brandywine Tomato Plants

Learn all about growing these unique tomatoes:

How to Grow Tomatoes – From planting seeds to harvesting fruit, we’ve gotcha covered.
Staking Tomato Plants – Large plants and huge tomatoes require a sturdy tomato cage or staking to help avoid plant disease and keep fruit off the ground.
Pruning Tomatoes – In fact, pruning helps avoid plant disease.
Plant Problems and Disease – Above all, remember the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Tomato Cages and Staking Plants

Tomato Cages and Staking – Maximize your crop, and minimize disease and insect damage, by staking or caging tomato plants. They will reward you with more tomatoes. The fruit will be cleaner, as they will not be sitting on the soil. More on staking tomatoes.

Plant Maturity and Days to Harvest

Brandywine tomatoes require 80-90 days from transplanting outdoors to produce the first fruit. But, it well worth the wait.

Days to harvest (or maturity) are counted from the time tomato plants are set out into the garden. The range is broad, as there are many varieties. Generally, cherry tomatoes ripen first, followed by early varieties. Finally, the large, beefsteak varieties take the longest to grow and ripen.

Insects and Pests

Tomato plants can experience insect problems with tomato hornworms, cutworms, and a few other garden pests. Also, if not staked or caged, snails and slugs will munch on the ripening fruit.

Birds will occasionally peck holes in red fruit.

Did you Know? Tomato plants emit a mild toxin that discourages many small insects from bothering them. This toxin can also cause skin itching and irritation.

About Tomato Hornworms

More on Tomato Plant Problems – Remember the old saying “anonce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Tip: Borage plants can be used as companion plants, to deter Tomato hornworms

Did you Know? Tomato plants (not the fruit) are used to make an organic insect repellent. See Tomato “Juice” Spray

How to Grow Tomatoes - Plant Disease

Several plant problems can arise, usually in the mid-summer heat and humidity. Blights and fungus infections can occur in high humidity. Early treatment with fungicides is effective. Spacing plants too close cuts down air circulation and promotes disease.

Blossom end rot can also affect the fruit. This is a round, brown, indented spot on the bottom of the tomato. It is caused by either uneven watering or a lack of calcium in the soil. More on Blossom End Rot.

Tip: Do not water at night if possible in hot and humid weather if possible. Moisture and humidity combined with high temperatures promote plant diseases. If possible, water at the roots.

Plant Hardiness

Tomatoes like it hot! They will die if exposed to frost. Make sure to plant them after the last frost.

Tip#1: Cover your young seedling if frost is predicted. A simple and easy cover for small seedlings is to buy large or extra large plastic disposable cups. Place them over the seedling at dusk, and remove them in the morning. It is usually little or no wind on nights with frost, so they are not easily tipped over.

Tip#2: If you get a light frost overnight and you did not cover up your plants. Go out early before the sun rises, and spray your plants with the garden hose. This melts the ice off the plants and may save them.

Harvesting and Storing Tomatoes

Tomatoes store well in a cool, dry location. Do not put them in the refrigerator. While they last longer in the refrigerator, they will lose their flavor and texture. Keep them out of direct sunlight.

Just before frost, pick tomatoes while they are still green or orange. First, wash them thoroughly. Second, rinse in a light solution of 1 gallon of water and a tablespoon of bleach. This kills off bacteria that rot the fruit. Then, allow them to dry. Finally, put them in a cool, dry, dark place.

To ripen tomatoes indoors, bring a couple at a time to a warm, sunny window.

Tomato Canning Guidelines – Information on canning tomatoes and other vegetables.