I have posted this information here many times so here it is again: I was fortunate to discover Brandywine Pink through the old Seed Savers catalogue when this variety was first introduced. Back then there was only one Brandywine Pink (Sudduth or Quisenberry strain). Today many seed companies offer inferior strains of Brandywine Pink so the first thing you have to make sure is to get the true Sudduth (also called Quisenberry) strain, e.g. from Johnny's of Maine Seed Company. Of course there are other Brandywine varieties but Brandywine Pink is what is usually referred to "a low yielding variety". As experienced Brandywine Pink growers know, this variety does not set fruits in hot weather (possibly due to defective blossoms or split calyces as was pointed out on this forum by Carolyn and I think Craig), even here in Southern CTâs zone 5. As VP International I had to travel and live in different parts of North America and Europe. I grew Brandywine in Northern Germany, Dublin/Ireland and Northern Italy. As Brandywine is a late season variety, starting the plants early and getting them into the ground early was absolutely necessary in Germany and Ireland and is also important here in CT. I use efficient Metal Halide grow lights and cool basement conditions which gives me sturdy stocky plants. It allows me to start Brandywine 9 weeks before setting them into the ground. I plant well established, hardened, stocky plants out in early /mid May depending on the weather conditions and go out of my way to protect them against cold temperatures. I noticed that Brandywine did really well in the lower sun intensity countries so while my other tomatoes are planted in full sun, Brandywine does best in an area where high trees block the summer sun around lunchtime. However, you will also get good yield if you follow these rules: Most gardeners are growing tomatoes in far too rich soil or over-fertilized soil and often use too much fresh compost. Carolyn Male, author of â100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Gardenâ said it best, quote: The result of using compost in the planting hole and added to the soil and using too much fertilizer and too many amendments is that plants are stressed by growing too fast and the stress helps induce blossom end rot and also makes the plants far more susceptible to various diseases (end of quote). Over-fertilized soil prevents early fruit set. Add to that the fact that Brandywine does not set fruit in hot weather and what do you get: Disappointing yields. By observing the above mentioned suggestions: 1. Start early 2. Grow the plants in soil that has been fertilized the year before 3. Try to provide some shade during hot summer month in order to increase yields. I foliar feed with a marine brown algae extract and water once with a stinging nettle manure tea after first fruit set. This procedure is repeated when the first fruits start to turn pink and after the first significant harvest. After fruit set while tomatoes are ripening I will side dress sparingly with a high potash natural fertilizer blend. Thatâs it. Follow these instructions and you will be astonished about the yield increase of Brandywine Sudduth strain. And if you have never grown Brandywine, get ready for a treat.

I know you asked for input from folks in your own area so I didn't post before, but now I see others who are not in your area posting, so I will as well. ( smile) Brandywine for many people has problems self pollenizing anyway, so it doesn't surprise me that in Sand Diego with your June Gloom weather that they don't set fruits for you easily. Almost any other large fruited variety, be it pink or red, should set fruits better in your area. Cuostralee is a variety I initially got from a Frenchman in a huge trade in 1992 and initially listed it in the SSE YEarbooks and it's gone out from there to many seed sources. It is reliable and usually has a high yield and in your area it should set fruits better than Brandywine most of the time but that depends on where someone is growing Brandywine in a geographic sense since I know many who do get very decent yields from Brandywine and I'm one of them. If Coustralee is the choice then I think you can tell your friened that it should do just fine. As for taste, I think it's pretty darn good but of course opinions will vary b'c taste is both personal and subjective and there are many other variables as to weather, soil, amendments used, how the plants are grown and where, again, in a geographic sense they're being grown. Carolyn

I have a better tomato yield this year, too. I have stink bugs but not as many as last year. My cucumbers have been pretty good, but I grow a kind that doesn't need to be pollinated to set fruit (Cool Breeze) and I hand-pollinate the other (Poona Kheera).

I'm not currently having any issues with Brandywine setting fruit, which is surprising to me based off of the reviews I read on it. I planted 3 plants, and so far, one of them has about 15 tomatoes on it, ranging from the size of a golfball to a few almost bigger than the palm of my hand (It has a bunch of other set blooms on it, but I don't count them till the flowers fall off and the fruit starts to develop). I was expecting maybe a little over a dozen per plant, based off of what I read, but at the rate of fruit set and development, I expect I might see around 20-30 off the plant before fall. That's not what I'd call a poor producing plant, it's not as great as some, but considering the size and reported taste of the fruit I think it's worth it. Honestly, I expected it's production would be really poor this year due to the cooler temps and all of the rain, but it seems like it didn't mind the rain and temps at all, I might even say it liked them. Here's a pic of one of my larger fruits: