brandywine tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Last edited by shiny on November 07, 2026. View history
Heirloom Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
WD
A variety of tomato
How to sow heirloom tomato: Direct seed indoors and transplant seedlings outside after hardening off
Sun requirement for heirloom tomato: Plant in Full Sun
Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated, non-hybrid cultivars that have usually been passed down through several generations because of valued characteristics like flavor and appearance. Heirlooms are sweeter and more richly flavored than conventional tomatoes. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, each with it's own unique flavor. They are often more disease-resistant, but have a shorter shelf life than conventional tomatoes. Some cultivars can be prone to cracking. Heirlooms often have a higher water content than conventional tomatoes and are often eaten raw with freshly ground salt and pepper, fresh basil, olive oil, and mozzarella.
- 10
- plantings
- 59
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Heirloom tomato facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
30 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
16
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
21
weeks after planting
Height × spread
120cm × 45cmRow Spacing
100cmDays until maturity
80–100 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
fruit harvested 59 times
Optimal temperature
20–27 °C
Absolute temperature
7–35 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1300 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
400–1800 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.8
Absolute soil pH
5–7.5
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
70–150 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2400 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For heirloom tomato, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 70 days at its best temperature, about 1155 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your heirloom tomato will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing heirloom tomatoes
- Sow seeds indoors 6 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Stake or cage the plants 1 week after planting out
- Water deeply 2 weeks after planting out every week
- Pinch out side shoots 3 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with tomato fertiliser 6 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Check for first ripe fruit 1 week before first harvest
- Pull out finished plants 4 weeks after first harvest
How members grow heirloom tomatoes
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of heirloom tomato
Plant heirloom tomatoes with
basil
carrot
chives
black beauty eggplant
Photos
Photos
Heirloom tomato plantings
Heirloom tomato harvests
Heirloom tomato seeds
Video
Where heirloom tomatoes grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about heirloom tomatoes
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Who's planted heirloom tomatoes
- shiny Island Bay tomato seedlings frames · Wellington, NZ
- milki Squash planter · San Francisco Bay Area
- kyrielle brandywine tomato CP 1 · Wilsonville, OR
- lauravalentine straw bales
- newellista brandywine tomato Home Garden · Mapleton, Utah
Heirloom tomato harvests
-
milki harvested 5, weighing 0.919 kg.
almost 2 years ago
-
milki harvested 3, weighing 0.559 kg.
almost 2 years ago
-
milki harvested 3, weighing 0.478 kg.
almost 2 years ago
milki harvested 5, weighing 0.919 kg.
View all heirloom tomato harvests
Sign in or sign up to track your heirloom tomato harvests.Find heirloom tomato seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 70 to 150 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | prostrate/procumbent/semi-erect |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about heirloom tomatoes
Resources outside Growstuff.
