Brandywine Red
Brandywine Red is a large beefsteak, ribbed and flattened tomato with fruit around 12 oz - 2+ lbs. Ready from roughly day 85-100. Germination takes 7-14 days. Space 36-48 inches apart at pH 6.2-6.8. Full sun (6+ hours).
Sowing
Start indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost. Requires warm soil (65°F+) and strong support structures.
Cultivation
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Water
- High — consistent moisture needed
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained loam with high organic content
- Soil pH
- 6.2-6.8
- Spacing
- 36-48 inches
- Height
- 1-10 feet
- Season
- Year Round
Appearance & flavour
- Colour
- Deep pink-red with occasional green shoulders
- Size
- 12 oz - 2+ lbs
- Shape
- Large beefsteak, ribbed and flattened
- Flavour
- Rich, complex flavor with perfect sweet-acid balance and intense tomato taste
In the kitchen
Premium slicing tomato for sandwiches, salads, and fresh eating. Too delicate for cooking applications.
Pests, disease & resistance
- Pests
- Tomato hornworm, aphids, cutworms, whiteflies
- Diseases
- Late blight, early blight, fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, blossom end rot
- Resistance
- Poor disease resistance typical of heirlooms. Susceptible to cracking, blight, and wilt diseases.
Planting calendar by USDA zone
| Zone | Start indoors | Transplant | Direct sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | April – May | June – July | — | October – September |
| 3 | April | June – July | — | September – October |
| 4 | March – April | June | — | September – October |
| 5 | March | May – June | — | September – October |
| 6 | March | May – June | — | August – October |
| 7 | February – March | April – May | — | August – October |
| 8 | February | April – May | — | July – September |
| 9 | January | March – April | — | June – August |
| 10 | January | February – March | — | June – August |
| 11 | January | January – February | — | May – July |
| 12 | January | January – February | — | May – July |
| 13 | January | January – February | — | May – July |
Companion planting
8 beneficial pairings indexed for this variety, 4 to avoid.
Avoid
Nutrition (per 100 g)
- Calories (per 100 g)
- 27
- Protein (g)
- 0.83
- Fat (g)
- 0.63
- Carbohydrate (g)
- 5.51
- Fibre (g)
- 2.1
- Vitamin C (mg)
- 27.2
- Vitamin E (mg)
- 0.98
- Vitamin K (µg)
- 4.2
- Vitamin B6 (mg)
- 0.06
- Folate (µg)
- 10
- Calcium (mg)
- 11
- Iron (mg)
- 0.33
- Magnesium (mg)
- 11.9
- Phosphorus (mg)
- 28
- Potassium (mg)
- 260
- Zinc (mg)
- 0.2
Where to buy seed and equipment
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Cultivar facts compiled from public horticultural references including USDA GRIN and NC State Extension. Descriptions are original to this catalogue.
Grown Brandywine Red?
Post a crop report — day counts, reservoir readings, what worked. Variety-specific logs are the most useful thing on the forum.
Similar varieties
Other tomatoes with a comparable time to harvest, so a season that suits Brandywine Red suits these too.
- Pineapple 85 days
- Heirloom Marriage Cherokee Green 85 days
- German Pink 85 days
- Oxheart 85 days
- Beefsteak 85 days
- Hillbilly 85 days