Branywine tomatoes..?
Question:I have a large very healthy looking brandwine tom. plant. Just a few blossoms, and no tomatoes yet. It is already the 7th of july, what is going on? Im on the west coast(oregon) by the way. I still have time to pull it and start new.....should i?
Answers:
Very few tomatoes are ready and ripe by the beginning of July...especially not heirlooms, generally, which is what you are growing. (You can grow earlier maturing hybrid tomatoes, but the flavor is not worth the earliness, IMO). Brandywines are well worth the long wait...they are large, and juicy, and the flavor is beyond compare. Brandywine is the perfect name for them! Next season, plant some Black Krim to tide you over until the Brandywines are ready...they are very very tasty too. You will be eating Brandywines from August (with luck) to October...another really early one that has surprisingly good flavor is called Silvery Fir Tree. The tomatoes are a deep yellow, but full flavored. Some people like Stupice (pronounced stoo-peach-ka) for an early red heirloom tomato, but some don't. I haven't tried those myself. Good luck & enjoy those brandywines later!
PS--if you are fertilizing the plant with nitrogen, it's time to stop now. It will keep the foliage growing huge at the expense of the fruit and flowers.
no let it grow, avoid pesticides they repel good pollinating insects
patience my friend they will produce fruits
They are very late , & not that productive , but very much worth it . If you have ripe tomatos by Sept 7th , feel good about it . Are you getting the heat wave? If it's too hot , they won't set fruit . Ditto too cold . Next year , along with the Brandywine , try others with the same flavor, but with earlier maturity , & more reliable . Pruden's Purple, Cherokee Purple (my favorite) & Black Krim fit the bill . Not the prettiest tomatos, but the best tasting for sure . ( winning taste tests @ Tomato festivals, etc - not just my opinion)
What is going on is that Brandywine is an heirloom. Hybrids are the ones manipulated to bloom early. You have an heirloom that takes time, but when it bears fruit, it is a contest winner! And by the way, that is not a hype. Brandywine tomatoes do win the most flavor contests.
Do me a favor and go to your plant today, and trim off *every* single stem and leaf that does not have blooms on it. Yes, you will basically peel down the plant. That way, your plant will not waste time and energy growing leaves and suckers, but will focus on the fruit. Throw a little epsom salt on the soil around it, don't put it on the leaves, hose it down to dilute it, and spray fish emulsion as a foliar. It will love it. Don't water it too much if it is potted, though! Mulch it and keep it out in a very sunny spot.
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