I'm having a tough time with my Brandywine tomatoes! They keep either sitting on the vine for too long before they ripen—then they split and get moldy—or if I pick them early to ripen indoors, they end up getting moldy or developing bacteria spots before they're ready to eat. The tomatoes look fine until just a few days before I pick them, then they develop cracks at the bottom. We haven't had much rain lately, and I have a drip watering system in place, so I don't think inconsistent watering is the issue. Maybe I'm giving them too much water when I do? I'd love to hear if anyone else has faced this problem and what I can do to improve the situation. I hate composting so many tomatoes that looked perfect at first! My hybrid varieties are doing better, which is great, but I really wanted to enjoy some of my heirlooms.
4 Answers
I totally feel your pain; my Brandywines are just as stubborn! I’ve found that if I pick them a little early and let them ripen off the vine, it works better. Plus, for pink varieties, they really don't need to be fully red to be tasty, so maybe don't wait too long?
From my experience last year, I wasn't impressed with Brandywines either. For the mold issue, try soaking them in a baking soda and water solution; then rinse them off. It might help!
Would you recommend doing that right after I bring them in? Any specific mix ratio?
With Brandywines, I recommend letting them color up just a little; they might look mostly green but will still have pink flesh. If you let them go fully pink, that’s usually when things go south!
That’s a good tip! I’ll keep that in mind!
What are you feeding those plants? Sometimes too much nitrogen can cause splitting. If you're sticking to just a bit of compost, that might be fine, but keep an eye on the nutrients.
I’m hardly feeding them at all, mainly just some compost on top.
That's good to know. I'll try picking them earlier!