Black Brandywine

Season Overview

Description

Brandywine Black' is the name of this reddish-brown beef tomato from the USA. Almost all varieties from the 'Brandywine family' have sometimes exciting, sometimes confusing information about their origin. You can find out more about the true history of 'Brandywine' tomatoes here. The history of the 'Brandywine Black' is also not completely clear. Some sources tell of a dentist who is said to have bred the variety in Pennsylvania around 1920. However, it is also said to have been accidentally crossed with an unknown variety. Whatever the case, it is and remains a great beef tomato. The potato-leaved plants are loosely leafy and grow to a height of around 160 cm. 'Brandywine Black' is a late-ripening variety that takes around 75 to 80 days from fertilization to ripening. 4 to 8 tomatoes grow on strong panicles. The fruits usually reach a size of 8 to 10 cm and weigh up to 350 g. The flattened tomatoes are more or less ribbed around the stem base and have olive-green shoulders. The full-fleshed fruits have several fruit chambers and are enclosed in a soft skin. The taste is aromatic and fruity sweet with hardly any noticeable acidity.

Growing tips

Tomatoes require a lot of light, warmth, water and nutrients. They are grown from seed on the windowsill from March. The seedlings should be planted deep, up to the first leaf base, so that the root system is enlarged by additional lateral roots. Unlike most other crops, tomatoes should always be planted in the same place. The plants also need wooden/corrugated wire rods or a trellis to which you regularly tie them. This is the only way they can support the weight of the fruit. You should regularly break out the side shoots that form in the leaf axils. This is because they do not bear fruit and take away the plant's energy to concentrate on producing lots of fruit. Under-sowing with low-growing plants is a good option.

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Very humid

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

High

Seeding distance

50 cm

Row spacing

100 cm

Seeding depth

1 cm