Sounding great to see all the entrants and nice plants! My Brandy Boy baby plant was started too late and is wimpy anyway, and today were at 91 F way too fast a turnaround to catch up to. Decision time ... tomorrow is my last chance to plant it out in a vacant space in my main tomato area.

It's not strong or tall enough compared many other special varieties a month older, all needing too few spots, so I'll probably end up putting BrB in a kiddie pot placed wherever I can fit it.

PC

Geez, I'm later than most, but I'm going out today and look for some seed!

Don't worry bcsky, I started mine 4 days ago and I'm sure there are some that have yet to start them in the far north. What zone are you?

edit: Nevermind, just saw your post in the plant out thread.

bcskye- I haven't gotten my seeds planted yet either. I'll start them this Saturday at the earliest, probably next Wednesday at the latest.

Rodney

I have one more variety to germinate. It is in paper towel/ zip bag.
It is Arbuzznyi. After 2 failed attempts, the third time seems to be working. I see the tiny tip of sprout/root poking. I will give them another day before putting them in the soil. Previous 16 varieties are 1" to 2" tall with 2 or more true leaves. My first batch is ready for plant out. In 2 more weeks I shall test the weather for hardening off/ plant out. Right now the 10 days forecast looks good. The lows are mostly in mid 40s.

Seysonn

PS. My Brandy Boys are already plant out size.

Mine is now in the ground. I have a couple more I will keep for backups.

So far, so good!

So far VERY good !

I have just 3 seedlings growing in a 5" pot together. I don't have room to separate them.
Seysonn

Your starts look awesome Seysonn!! Are you going to cut out two and just plant the best one? It looks like they are ready to transplant - weather permitting?

Your's look great too CaraRose - it appears your germination rate is high!

Soon, we will be sharing photos of tomatoes!

Hudson, ... I have separated them into 3 plants. .
Yes, they are plant out size but I have to keep them inside for another week or longer, depending on the weather. Then I will start hardening them off.

Seysonn

Just for an update on Lot 2 seeds: 22 of 24 are up on day 6. Was going to put out just a couple of plant so I hope a lot of neighbors want some!

Haha, Hoosier,
Even 3 plants are too many for me. I need to give away one and just keep 2.

Seysonn

I decided to pop in for the first time this season. We are still buried in snow here in NJ. I was planning to start some seeds next weekend but after reading all of this, I will have to sow some TODAY!

I am trying BB for the first time this year and will be posting my F10's I got from John to compare! I'm also adding home made compost for the first time so bring it on!!!

Here is a Cherokee Purple that easily maxed out my wife's 18 oz scale...

What's a contest without a prize?

I propose the biggest BRANDY BOY gets to wear the 2015 GardenWeb BB (BIG BOY) crown?

Yeah. We have to ask Hudson about it.

BTW: how your BB seedlings/plants are doing. I am hardening off mine. Planning on planting second week in April, weather permitting. I am pushing my plant out by about one month, for about 50% of my plants. The rest will be planted out couple of weeks later.

Seysonn

I'll show you some photos in a couple of days - they are doing well - I have a total of 8 Brandy's planted in the GH now - I'm ready to compete! I think that was a good idea from goodground - I think I will contact Burpee and ask them if they would like to participate - I am not sure what the forum rules are though - maybe that is stretching to far? If nothing else - the prize will always be the Brandy Boy! haha

Yes, all our efforts go to eating that prize at the end...lol

Here are my Brandy Boys after about two weeks worth of growth since my last photo. They are growing slowly because I desperately need a better light source. However, they continue to add a little more size every day at least. I have so many plants under these tiny lights, though, that I am kind of happy they aren't getting too big just yet. Still got a month left till LFD, so keeping them at a manageable size until then is going to be a challenge.

I think I may have bit off more than I can chew by keeping so many seedlings. :P

Hi Hudson

I am sure that you are more than ready to compete.
I am hardening of mine. Plant out should be in second week of April sometime.
About contacting Burpee, I don't think that the site will object to that. That can be a promotion for the site if Burpee mentions it in its site too.

OTOH, no matter what everybody will be prized by enjoying the event and as well as the tomatoes.

P.S. Look forward to seeing your pictures.

Seysonn

Need some help from all of you growing Brandy Boy's please. Below is a picture of two of my seedlings. Brandy Boy is a potato leaf and these leaves look sort of like a cross between regular and potato. Or maybe it is because they are side by side with the very pronounced potato leaves of Lillian's Yellow and Green Giant? It's the new growth in the center that is throwing me. There's no mix up of seedlings on my part as I started these all by themselves a week or so after my others. What do you all think?

Thanks, Jennie

Jennie,
I think what you've got has regular leaves. Where did you get the seeds from ?
Look at Hudson' on his March 16th post and mine shown in my March 19th post. That is how PL looks like.

Seysonn

Oh Seysonn, that is what I thought also. They were sitting right next to my other potato leaf varieties and when they got a few more branches and some top growth it was really noticable that these were not potato leaf. . Got the seeds at Lowe's. Well, darn. Guess I am out of the contest now.

Jennie

Well, I am not a big "joiner"...but I am in. Sey sucked me in with his blah...blah....blah, and Hudson's pics did a number on me too. haha. I am really excited about my Brandy Boy's and Cowlick's Brandywines. Consequently, I planted 1 each in a container and 1 each in my raised bed. It will be interesting to compare plants in different mediums. Will the IRS allow us to write this stuff off (mental medical expenses)???

Planted six Brandy Boy seeds on March 24th and today I have three that are up with two more poking through the potting mix.

Rodney

Nice, Rodney. Welcome to the contest!

Jennie,
Sorry for the mishap. Howmany have you germinated ? Are all the same ?
Another question: You mentioned " They were sitting right next to my other potato leaf varieties... What are your other POTATO LEAF varieties ? MAYBE some of those that you think are PL, are actually RL and you tagged them as " ??" . So this can be another possibility.

@ Rodney, Good luck !

@Fireduck ... Glad you joined. :-)

Seysonn

Seysonn, I started these a week after my other plants. Remembering now I also started 4 more Cherokee Purple. I had poor germination from my first batch of CP as the seeds were pretty old, so started some more the same time as the BrB. I am usually so careful, but obviously REALLY messed up! I kept willing those little seedlings to snap out of it and start producing potato leaves to no avail. :-( I now have an extra 8 CP! Started germinating some more BrB last night, just to make sure I have the correct seed (which I know I probably do and it was just a major mess up on my part) but also because I really want to try one. A little late to be starting seed in 7b so won't win the earliest.......but I still have a shot at the BIGGEST!

Fireduck will be interesting to see how they do in the comparison of raised bed vs containers.

Jennie

I need to start a 2nd thread for this topic soon - if others don't mind - I think I will wait until we hit 200 comments.

I have been out of town a couple of days and was happy to see Brandy Boy advancing nicely. We are forecast 15 degrees F this week but the should be protected fine in the GH. This is how the Brandy Boys look this morning. They are planted weeks apart with at least one more planting to go. Game On!!

Jennie, So do you think that you mismakrked CP and BrB? We know that CP is RL.

Hudson, your BrB's are the same size as mine. I am hardening off mine right now. I think I will plant out one of them on April 7th

Yeah, for sure we will need you to start the thread number 2. This one takes a while to get to the bottom. I think 199 is the max post per thread. Or used to be.

Seysonn

I'm glad the retail stores are carrying Brandy Boy. I purchased it from Lowes, along with Stupice and 4th Of July seeds. I only plan on growing 2 of each, but know many who would love my leftover starts.

So a possible chance of seed mispacks from retail store packets? I'll make sure that mine are potato leaf, and may pick up an additional Brandy Boy seed packet from Home Depot, since there's a chance they would have received a different Lot #.

I'm off to another late start this year, but i already know what to expect from it....

Better late than never. :)

I just pottedon from 3/4 blocks to 2 inch soil blocks. Looks like so far I have 23 out of 29 seeds. I picked up a pack from Lowe's marked Lot 1 from India.

I have never grown this type of tomato before so wish me luck.

LAR

Hurry up you Northerners ! You have 6 to 7 weeks til plant out (just estimate), if you plant out in mid May. Conservative gardeners here also plant out around mid May. I am pushing one month early.I ain't no conservative. hehe

Seysonn

Geez Lar - you are at 7,000' elevation - higher than my elevation of 6,250. We are zone 3 though. I wondered if anyone besides me used soil blocks. I think they are awesome for starting seeds! Brandy Boy should do well for you - it sure has for us at our elevation. Most folks around here are just planting their tomato seeds now for GH growing - can't grow them outside here. You should be fine if you are moving them to 2" blocks now. You had a good germination rate - good luck!!

While our last frost date is May 15 many people wait to plant tomatoes until the end of May. I often use WOW to put mine out any time from mid April to the end of May.

Last week Brandy Boy, Stump of the World, and Bloody Butcher seeds were placed in pt in baggies but no germination yet. Think I should have done my regular cell pack w p mix as usually have germination after 3-7 days. Will start the rest of my tomatoes in the next few days.

Removed some mulch in the gardens today. There is still frost below 4-5 inches in the areas with no mulch. Expect temp of 70F with thunderstorms tomorrow.

Here are my 1 month old Brandy Boys (in front) along with the other 10 varieties of tomatoes.

It looks like I am the one with the earliest sown tomatoes for my zone 5a/b! Please, correct me if I am wrong. Usually I plant tomatoes in the ground after the 1st of May in the low tunnels. This year the weather forecast is so nice without the usual freezes. I will probably plant them out after April 15th! I have 1 extra tomato for each variety in case something will go wrong.

Mine are big enough to move them to solo cups now. I plan to do that when I get home.

I think I'll put one in a 5 gallon bucket to get an extra little jump on the contest.

It's 70's and 80's with lows above 50 predicted here for the rest of the week so I've been hauling them out in the mornings and putting them back inside under lights for 4 hours at night. They are hardened off enough now so I put them in full sun this morning.

Dudson-----how do you water your soil blocks and do you use any liquid fertilizer?

BB with flower buds (in the center just above the white pipe, a bit hard to see). I don't know if they'll set fruit this early, my Brandywine blooms early but the flowers just fall off.

I have to get any bragging in now before I'm overwhelmed with mildew, other disases, mites, etc!

HMMM. Very nice, socalgal.
Mine are in the cold frame, just toughening the up those boys. Another week, long term forecast looks better ( in 44F to 64F range) for plant out.

OK. Contest must go on.

Seysonn

Lar - I don't fertilize the micro or 2" soil blocks at all. I don't fertilize until I have planted the 2" block into a larger container - then I fertilize weekly from that point on - with a liquid (mixed from a powder) 9-58-8 root and blooming fertilizer with iron. Do you fertilize the soil blocks? If so - what do you use?

Nice looking Brandy Boys Socalgal! Yours look great also Antmary!

We water from the bottom - the 3/4" soil blocks are set on a capillary mat in a tray - they don't break apart on us when we water them this way. We water the mat around the perimeter being careful to not pour water directly on the blocks.

The 2" soil blocks are placed in a rack that is made to sit inside a Perma-Tray - We lift the rack with the 2" soil blocks out - place water in the perma-tray - then put the rack back in. The Blocks do not fall apart but we are careful to only put about a 1/2" water in the perm-tray so the blocks are not over watered. We move the 2" blocks to pots when the plants are ready.

Mine is in the ground. Not much going on for top growth, so I am guessing that it is growing root room first. Some plants do that here. The first two to three weeks they will look like nothing is going on. Then they will take off.

My Brandy Boy looks fantastic. Too bad it is not in the ground yet. I think it may be getting too big. 14 inches tall from top of soil.

yolos, when is your average last frost date? Probably want to get that (nice looking plant) outside sooner rather than later if forecast/history supports it!

Yolos, that is a nice plant (no more a seedling).
In zone 7b/8a in GA your plant out date can be any day now. Start hardening it off. I think you LFD is already behind you.
Good luck !

Seysonn

Last average frost date was 3/28. Last frost date is about 4/15. I have been waiting for the forecast to show lows no lower than 50. I have been covering and uncovering things all winter and did not want to go thru that with my spring/summer veggies. This Saturday was originally forecast to have a low of 39*F (this has now changed to 43*F). I will definitely get them in the ground no later than this Sunday. They are already mostly hardened off.

Tilling the garden and getting ready to plant soon, average frost danger is over in a few weeks here in May, and starting to warm up here in Indiana. My seedlings are taking off and about ready to harden. Count me in on the contest, anything else I need to do other than to check in? I can take pictures of my seedlings if necessary. Thanks-this thread was suggested to me from another post :-)

Hoosier, there is a part 2 of this thread going on. Post there going forward.

Here is the link

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2966925/brandy-boy-contest-2015-2?n=96

Hi Hoosier - yes - there is a part 2 now for this thread. To answer your question - please post what ever information you would like to share on this thread (and additional parts) about your experiences - good or bad - growing Brandy Boy. The more photos the better. There are no other requirements. The purpose of the thread is the competition (please read the very first post) and to share our experiences/results with a relatively popular variety that has been of apparent current interest on this and other forums. Beyond that - we just want to have fun comparing results of one tomato variety across the country in all growing conditions - hope you will participate and enjoy the thread!