Outstanding Brandywine Sudduth production

13 years ago

I have been growing Brandywine Sudduth for three year and it is the best tasting tomato, to date imo.

I purchased seed from Johnny's in Maine and saved seed, bagging blooms.

The first two years preformance was the same. A few large great tasting tomatoes (maybe 5 or 6 per plant).

This year, using saved seed the start was just like the other two years. Good folage growth with very few tomatoes....and all of a sudden....almost every bloom produced. I now have over 30 small green tomatoes on one plant ranging in size from marble to golf ball size!

This production is 'out of character' for the Brandywine Sudduth I know. I am watching closely to see if the ripe tomatoes fulfill expectations.

Was this a 'perfect storm'? (Blooms developing with perfect humidity)

John

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Comments (8)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
13 years ago
Funny you should say that. I don't save seed or bag blossoms, but I have been really pleased with my Chreokee Purple plant this year. Tons of blossoms, and fruit setting in groups of 3. Best in years. Actually, I have to pick 2 of them today which are almost ripe so tonights rain won't split the skins. Now that's EARLY for Z5 here in upstate NY. A Cherokee Purple on July 9! WOW! My Stupice plant looks like yellow fireworks there are so many blossoms. They've been ripe since June. My B'wine Suddeths (Johnny's) is growing really well also, setting fruit in 2's and 3's. We've had lots of warm, not too humid weather also.
sunsi
13 years ago
Yeah I think this will be a good-to-great tomato year. I read that saving your own seed and growing it acclimates it to your geographical area resulting in better production.
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kdawg
13 years ago
Despite their reputation, Brandywine's have always been very productive for me and not particularly late.

Early girls -- the three times I tried to grow them -- were some of the latest tomatoes in my garden and were not very productive and didn't taste great.

So often, the one's that are supposed to be trouble do just great and the one's I planted because I thought they'd be sure things turn out to be duds.

Sometimes it's just the way it is.
roper2008
13 years ago
Lucky you John. Glad your brandywine's are doing so well. I only
have 1 Cowlick's Brandywine. The poor thing looks like a plucked
chicken after I picked a lot of the blight leaves off. Still has about
7 green tomatoes on it. Maybe there's hope, I have been spraying
it with Daconil.
Fred_in_Maine
13 years ago
John, Thanks for reminding me about the adaptability of plants grown from saved seed to geographic/environmental regions. I think I read about this in Carolyn Male's book, 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.

I am very near Pine Tree Seed company in Maine. And Johnny's is here in Maine also. This is the first year I have grown anything from seed. The plants grown from Pine Tree and Johnny's seeds are doing very well.

Brandywine Yellow
Prudens Purple
Moskovich
Valencia

This is the first year I am growing these particular varieties, so I cannot compare their growth or performance with the same varieties grown in past years from more distant sources.

I know that, for lack of space, many seed companies sub-contract the growing of specific varieties to growers around the country in order to have a good supply of seeds to sell for that variety.

Next year I would like to contact Pine Tree and Johnny's to find out which varieties they actually grow here in Maine themselves. I'd like to buy seeds for these varieties from them, seeds with a generational pedigree of adaptation to Maine. And also buy seeds for the same varieties from afar.

Grown side by side in my Maine garden, I would love to see how, for example, a Cherokee Purple "citizen" of Maine compares with a Cherokee Purple "citizen" of North Carolina.

Fred
bigdaddyj
13 years ago
Sudduth Brandy from Johnny's has for many years been a good producer for me...
toucanjoe
13 years ago
Still like the Big Boys and Rutgers,have been growing them for years and thet never fail.Big boys 30 to 50lbs per plant. Joe
vikingkirken
13 years ago
I have a cluster of five good-sized tomatoes on my Brandywine Sudduth's, it was one of the first tomato plants to set fruit for me! And there are a lot more babies on the way, too.

Outstanding Brandywine Sudduth production

Comments (8)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28

sunsi

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