brandywines and heat

[Norma Briggs]

Just wondering if anyone with this Gulf Coast heat has tried growing Brandywines and how did they fair?

[Penelope Periwinkle]

I'm in South Carolina, zone 8A, and they grow very well for me.

Penelope

[tb]

Some people say they tend to crack and don't produce heavily. I'd say that is sort of the case, but their taste is the standard by which all other tomatoes are judged.

[Norma Briggs]

Well then...I suppose the taste is worth it :)

[Laura Stanley]

Hi, Norma.

I've grown them here in NW FL a couple of times. My experience is that fruit set is poor, especially when it starts to get hot. And they die off fairly early in the season (July) due to one disease or another. The birds, squirrels, stink bugs, and fruit worms like them, too - they eat the fruit from the Brandywines before they touch any of my other tomatoes!

OTOH, the (very) few I've managed to harvest were extremely tasty.

I'd say if you have the room to experiment, go for it - but don't rely on them for your main crop. Think of them as a special treat.

I'd get them started ASAP in the season (if you're right along the Gulf Coast, now is the time to set out transplants) so they'll have time to produce something before the heat and diseases get them this summer.

I don't have any Brandywine seedlings started now. But I think I'll try a Brandywine as a fall crop this year; maybe in October the bugs will leave me a few more.

I've had somewhat better luck with Burpee's hybrid called "Brandy Boy" - I have the same problems with diseases and critters, but the plants set a lot more fruit, so I end up harvesting a few more. They are *almost* as good. I will be setting out one of these plants this weekend.

Another really tasty variety I have tried is Ferry-Morse's "Top Sirloin" hybrid - it's excellent, a close second to Brandywine IMO. And it usually produces pretty well for me. Sadly, the last of my "Top Sirloin" seeds failed to germinate this year. I haven't found any more of this variety locally - I guess I'll have to Google.

Good luck! Laura

NW FL USDA Zone 8b

[Norma Briggs]

[Tony]