Tomato 'Brandywine'

Solanum lycopersicum

How to grow Tomato 'Brandywine'

  • Full Sun

  • Medium

Brandywine tomatoes need to be pruned to prevent them from getting leggy. Grow them on stakes because they grow tall and may droop. This tomato variety takes at least 80 to 100 days to reach full maturity, and they tend to remain green, but should be picked before they crack.

Brandywine likes a position of full sun and remember to water moderately. Keep in mind when planting that Brandywine is thought of as tender, so remember to wait until your soil is warm and the night time temperature is well above freezing before moving outside. Ideally plant in loamy soil and try to keep the ph of your soil between the range of 5.0 and 6.0 as Brandywine likes to be in moderately acidic soil to weakly acidic soil.

Growing Brandywine from seed

Start seeds indoors six weeks before last frost date.

Try to aim for a seed spacing of at least 2.60 feet (80.0 cm) and sow at a depth of around 0.78 inches (2.0 cm). Soil temperature should be kept higher than 12°C / 54°F to ensure good germination.

By our calculations, you should look at sowing Brandywine about 42 days before your last frost date.

Transplanting Brandywine

Transplant out when around 15cm (6 inches) high.

Plant to first set of leaves to promote strong roots.

Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Brandywine is a tender plant.

Harvesting Brandywine

This variety tends to be ready for harvesting by mid summer.

Brandywine folklore & trivia

The origins of the Brandywine tomato are steeped in mystery, although they were shown to be carried in the Burpee catalogue as early as 1886.


From Wikipedia:
It reached modern popularity after being introduced via the Seed Savers Exchange in 1982 by an elderly Ohio gardener named Ben Quisenberry. He received the variety from a woman named Dorris Sudduth Hill who could trace Brandywine in her family for over 80 years. Brandywine has become one of the most popular home garden cultivars in the United States. Due to the proliferation of many misidentified varieties, the pink-fruited, potato-leaved Brandywine is sometimes labeled Brandywine (Sudduth’s).

Misspellings of Tomato 'Brandywine'

“Bradywine Pink”, Bradywine, Pink Bradywine, Bradywine Pink

Other Names for Tomato 'Brandywine'

Barnhardt, Brandywine pink, Pink brandywine