How Many Kinds of Brandywine Are There?

[TomatoDon]

It seems every year I hear of a new strain of Brandywine. I'm not sure of the term...if it is "kind" or "strain" or "variation," or what, but I don't think I've seen a thread here devoted to the different variations of Brandywines.

I only know of a few kinds, and I'm hoping those of you who really study Brandywine can list the Brandywines you know of.

DS

[travis]

How many Brandywines are there? Oh two, maybe three. The rest of them, whether good, bad, or mediocre, are pretty much half breeds or complete imposters.

[Ed of Somis]

T...this is a great idea for a thread! I am learning fast, and am enjoying this whole tomato thing. I have "Brandywine" from Bonnie Plants. That is how it is termed on the label stake. One fruit has been harvested...it was great! Several very large green ones are teasing me right now. I have noticed the Red, Pink, and personal namesakes Brandywines, as well. This should be informative.

[TomatoDon]

OK, I'll start it myself. From Tomato Growers Supply there is:

1. Brandywine Red, Potato Leaf
2. Brandywine Red, Regular Leaf.
3. Brandywine, Yellow.
4. Brandywine, Yellow, Platfoot Strain.
5. Brandywine, Liam's.
6. Brandywine, OTV.
7. Brandywine (No designation.)
8. Brandywine, Sudduth.
9. Brandywine, Red Landis Valley.
10. Brandywine, Purple.
And more that are crosses.

I guess we can add Cowlicks, Glicks, and Earl's Faux? Brandyboy, Brandysweet Plum? Red Rose? Lucky Cross?

[Deborah]

Just curious-how is Sudduth pronounced? Soo or sud?

[WVTomatoMan]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Just curious-how is Sudduth pronounced? Soo or sud?

Sud. At least that's the way we pronounce it around here. Sudduth is a fairly common local name.

Randy

[camochef]

As the person responsible for discovering and naming Cowlick's and adding to the confusion on Brandywines, I feel I should comment on this thread.

Let me start by saying I love Brandywines, not all of them but definitely the pink Brandywines. I've been growing them and the Brandywine crosses and similar tomatoes for years. Pink, Red, Yellow, Black, Purple...I've grown them all over the years. Some have been fantastic, others...not so much. Having reduced my normal garden size by hundreds of varieties, I now only grow a few.

Those still remaining in my gardens are:
Cowlick's Brandywine-P.L.
Cowlick's Brandywine-R.L.
Brandywine-Glick's
Brandywine-Sudduth's
Liz Birt (a pink Brandywine/cherokee purple cross)
Bear Creek (another Brandywine/cherokee purple cross)
DDRxBW-C ( a Dana's Dusky Rose/ Brandywine -Cowlick cross)
Earl's Faux
Barlow Jap- While it's history belies that its related to any BW it's so much like a good pink P.L. BW its gotta be related somehow.
Terhune- While it has been suspected of being BW related, it is much later maturing, but does taste similar.

Gone from my Gardens now:
Ed's Millenium
Dora- (sister to Liz Birt and Bear Creek; BW/Cherokee Purple cross)
Gary O'Sena- (another sister BW/ CP cross)
JD's Special C-Tex
Black Brandywine
True Black Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine-Platfoot strain
Red Brandywine-R.L.
Red Brandywine-P.L.
Brandywine OTV
Purple Brandywine
Marizol Purple
Marizol Pink
Marizol Bratka
and just plain Brandywine or Pink Brandywine.

There are many more varieties that are so much like my favorite pink brandywines...thin skinned, almost non-existent core, great taste and large sized, that I used to grow and some of which I really miss but.... due to health reasons I can no longer grow and take care of all the hundreds of varieties I used to grow every year.

Cowlick's Brandywine was an exceptional Brandywine I bought from Cowlick's nursury that out-performed every Brandywine I was growing that year. It gave me more tomatoes of great size than any tomato I've ever grown. When Jay in Kansas complained he couldn't grow Brandywines I sent him seeds for this Cowlick's as I called it to differentiate the seed from other Brandywines I had growing.
They did well for him and he sent seed to Amideutch in Germany as well as others. Next thing I knew I was being requested to send seed all over the USA and throughout the world and the Cowlick Brandywine has taken off ever since.
It still out produces every other Brandywine and Brandywine cross that I grow and so far this year has yielded over a dozen large ripe tomatoes where my Brandywine Glick's and Sudduth's or any other crosses hasn't given me a ripe tomato yet.
Enjoy, and sorry for rambling on.
Camo

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by camochef

As the person responsible for discovering and naming Cowlick's and adding to the confusion on Brandywines, I feel I should comment on this thread.

Let me start by saying I love Brandywines, not all of them but definitely the pink Brandywines. I've been growing them and the Brandywine crosses and similar tomatoes for years. Pink, Red, Yellow, Black, Purple...I've grown them all over the years. Some have been fantastic, others...not so much. Having reduced my normal garden size by hundreds of varieties, I now only grow a few.

Those still remaining in my gardens are:
Cowlick's Brandywine-P.L.
Cowlick's Brandywine-R.L.
Brandywine-Glick's
Brandywine-Sudduth's
Liz Birt (a pink Brandywine/cherokee purple cross)
Bear Creek (another Brandywine/cherokee purple cross)
DDRxBW-C ( a Dana's Dusky Rose/ Brandywine -Cowlick cross)
Earl's Faux
Barlow Jap- While it's history belies that its related to any BW it's so much like a good pink P.L. BW its gotta be related somehow.
Terhune- While it has been suspected of being BW related, it is much later maturing, but does taste similar.

Gone from my Gardens now:
Ed's Millenium
Dora- (sister to Liz Birt and Bear Creek; BW/Cherokee Purple cross)
Gary O'Sena- (another sister BW/ CP cross)
JD's Special C-Tex
Black Brandywine
True Black Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine-Platfoot strain
Red Brandywine-R.L.
Red Brandywine-P.L.
Brandywine OTV
Purple Brandywine
Marizol Purple
Marizol Pink
Marizol Bratka
and just plain Brandywine or Pink Brandywine.

There are many more varieties that are so much like my favorite pink brandywines...thin skinned, almost non-existent core, great taste and large sized, that I used to grow and some of which I really miss but.... due to health reasons I can no longer grow and take care of all the hundreds of varieties I used to grow every year.

Cowlick's Brandywine was an exceptional Brandywine I bought from Cowlick's nursury that out-performed every Brandywine I was growing that year. It gave me more tomatoes of great size than any tomato I've ever grown. When Jay in Kansas complained he couldn't grow Brandywines I sent him seeds for this Cowlick's as I called it to differentiate the seed from other Brandywines I had growing.
They did well for him and he sent seed to Amideutch in Germany as well as others. Next thing I knew I was being requested to send seed all over the USA and throughout the world and the Cowlick Brandywine has taken off ever since.
It still out produces every other Brandywine and Brandywine cross that I grow and so far this year has yielded over a dozen large ripe tomatoes where my Brandywine Glick's and Sudduth's or any other crosses hasn't given me a ripe tomato yet.
Enjoy, and sorry for rambling on.
Camo

Hello Camo,

I'm set on adding Brandywine Cowlicks to my grow list next year. After reading you mention it along with others several times, I'm just too curious, have to at least try it out.
~Alfredo

[GunnarSK]

Next year I'll also grow Brandywine Cowlick, and Marizol Bratka (my seeds named Purple Brandy) if I can sow them early enough.

[Douglas_OW]

There are a number of tomatoes listed in the SSE yearbook that include Brandywine in their name. Some appear to be a single variety categorized under two or more colors. I don't have any special insight into any of these, other than the inclusion of Brandywine in their names. As others have already commented, many may not be Brandywines at all, or may be crosses with other varieties.
I'm not sure if this addresses your original question or not.

1. ORANGE-YELLOW Apricot Brandywine
2. OTHER COLORS Black Brandywine - true
3. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine
4. RED Brandywine
5. RED Brandywine (Sudduth's)
6. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine Mutate
7. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine OTV
8. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine Pink
9. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine Sport
10. ORANGE-YELLOW Brandywine yellow platfoot strain
11. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Big Purple
12. OTHER COLORS Brandywine - Black
13. OTHER COLORS Brandywine - Black (Regular Leaf)
14. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Cherry
15. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Cowlick's
16. OTHER COLORS Brandywine - Dr. Martin's Black
17. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Glick's Strain
18. RED Brandywine - Heart-shaped
19. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Joyce's Strain
20. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Liams
21. RED Brandywine - Mutate #1
22. RED Brandywine - Mutate #2
23. ORANGE-YELLOW Brandywine - Orange
24. RED Brandywine - Otv
25. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Pawer's
26. RED Brandywine - Plum Shaped
27. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Purple
28. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Quisenberry
29. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Radiator Charlie
30. RED Brandywine - Red
31. RED Brandywine - Red Landis
32. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Sudduth's
33. PINK-PURPLE Brandywine - Sudduth's Strain
34. OTHER COLORS Brandywine - True Black
35. ORANGE-YELLOW Brandywine - Yellow
36. ORANGE-YELLOW Brandywine - Yellow (Abundant Life)
37. PINK-PURPLE Cherry - Brandywine
38. PINK-PURPLE Cowlick Brandywine
39. ORANGE-YELLOW Mahlor Roth's Orange Brandywine
40. RED OTV Brandywine
41. ORANGE-YELLOW Yellow Brandywine - Platfoot

Jim

[newatthiskat]

Brandywine cherry. I have grown it and it is very good. Larger than normal pink cherry. Lots of seeds. Yummy

[Alfredo]

....Me waiting on Dr.Carolyn Male to jump all over this thread to state her position on this topic, which i know she's posted about before many times.

~Alfredo

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Alfredo

....Me waiting on Dr.Carolyn Male to jump all over this thread to state her position on this topic, which i know she's posted about before many times.

~Alfredo

Yes I have Alfredo, in many threads all there for the searching.

I'll just comment on a few rightnowonone called Liam's Brandywine, which isn't a brandywine at all.

When Brandywine crosssed with Tad in Craigs garden he sent some F2 seeds to someone in NC named Larry, who got out of growouts a pink fruited plant, and called it Liam's Brandywine.

The original accidental cross pollination led to Little Lucky. Lucky Cross and many more.

But Liam's is not a pure Brandywine, for it has Tad genes in it.

Fact is that OTV Brandywine, named by Craig and myself has other genes in it as well. Craig had sent out seeds of Yellow Brandywine and one person sent back seeds and a picture showing lovely RED fruits.

Since I had a large field for my tomatoes and Craig didn't have that much room he sent the seeds to me and I had to go out to the F5 before it was stable and we named it OTV Brandywine. OTV stands for Off the Vine, an international newsletter that Craig and I were publishing in the early to mid 90's,''In retrospect we should not have called it even a brandywine, IMO, b/c again, it wasn't all brandywine genes, no way to know what it had crossed with.

But what is, is, and it's a darn good variety that sets fruits much better in the south than do most of the traditional known heirloom varieties such as Yellow Brandywine and Brandywine itself. True Red Brandywine is also a traditional known heirloom, but does not have the fruit setting problems of Brandywine, and the several strains of it that are listed.

And do search for the thread on strains, b'c that word can mean two things, It can mean that it's a true Brandywine that differs slightly from Brandywine, but can still be IDed as Brandywine,

And it can also refer to a Brandywine that has a person's name attached to it but isn't a strain,just the name of the person who first listed it in the SSE Yearbook.

My fave is the Pawers strainof Brandywine, which arose as a typo. It was listed by Roger Wentling of PA which makes his SSE code as PA WE R.

Got it?

Lastly, Linda at TGS had asked me about the Liam's one and I told her the background and told her it wasn't a pure Brandywine,so she described it as she did in the 2013 TGS catalog.

Carolyn

[AKmark]

Hey no problem, it just seems that far north gardeners are felt sorry for, or something, so sorry if I got defensive, and I'm not an expert... thats why I'm here. I can grow plants, have for many years, but I am really behind on mid and late season strain knowledge, thats really why I'm here. It is obvious, that every strain listed ion a seed catalog is awesome. Yah Right! Hopefully, on this site, others who know great strains will help me cut through the endless ads and suggest strains like I have asked for. Thats all I want, I will even take them fishing if they ever come to AK. Like I stated I want Branywine type info, or strains of like, as the thread suggests
Mark

[tlintx]

I thought "strains" were just seeds saved from a variety repeatedly in the hopes of furthering a cause (ie, most productive, earliest)? Also, can't anybody name any tomato "Brandywine" or "Brandy" whatever?

I have two Brandywine (Cowlick's) seedlings awaiting plant out right now. Not that hopeful -- they seem to fade in the heat faster than the other varieties I've tried. May just be that Brandy-whatevers are not doable here except maybe in early spring, with a very long head start, as Worth suggested.

I am also trying Brandeva, seems a little tougher but not much.