Brandywine Pink Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum (nightshade)

Also known as: Pink Brandywine

Widely considered by many gardeners to be the best-tasting tomato in the world, this Amish heirloom traces back to the late 1800s in the Brandywine Creek region of Pennsylvania. Unusual, distinctive potato-leaf foliage — smooth-edged rather than the typical serrated tomato leaf — sets the plant apart at a glance, while the fruit itself is a large, ribbed, flattened beefsteak in dusky pink, with dense, meaty flesh, few seeds, and a rich, old-fashioned flavour that's earned its reputation as the benchmark heirloom tomato. Slow to mature and light-cropping through midseason, it rewards patience with a stronger flush later in summer. Indeterminate (climbing) variety — requires sturdy staking.

Days to harvest 80–90 days from transplant
Fruit size 350–700g+, flattened beefsteak shape
Sowing depth 5mm
Germination 6–14 days at 24–29°C
Spacing 60–90cm apart
Aspect Full sun, well-drained soil
Frost tolerance Frost sensitive — needs reliably warm nights

Growing notes

Choose a full-sun, open position with good air circulation. A big, vigorous plant that needs plenty of room and time to reward you properly. Needs a substantial pot from 40L+ with strong staking

Soil preparation: Rich, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter worked in.

Support: Sturdy staking or a strong cage essential — vines grow tall and fruit is genuinely heavy.

Watering & feeding: Water deeply and consistently, especially as fruit sizes up. Feed regularly with a potassium-rich fertiliser once flowering and fruiting begins.

Harvest: Pick as fruit ripens to a dusky pink, even if slightly green-shouldered near the stem — this is normal for the variety. Thin skin means gentle handling is needed.

Timing: One of the slower tomatoes to mature — expect first harvest around 80–90 days after transplanting, with a lighter early crop building to a stronger flush later in the season.

Key features

  • Open-pollinated Amish heirloom, dating to the late 1800s
  • Widely regarded as the best-tasting tomato variety
  • Distinctive potato-leaf foliage
  • Large, flattened beefsteak fruit, 350–700g+
  • Dense, meaty flesh with rich, old-fashioned flavour
  • Slower to mature — worth the wait

Short season tips

Sow 6–8 weeks before you want to plant out, on a heat mat if possible — soil needs to be 24–29°C to germinate reliably. Given its slower maturity, this variety benefits from as early a start as safely possible to make the most of the growing season. Transplant only once all risk of frost has passed and nights are reliably mild.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Tender perennial — most often grown as an annual

  • Basil (classic tomato pairing) Marigolds Carrots Parsley
  • Other nightshades (capsicums, chillies, eggplants, potatoes) Fennel Corn

Tracing back to the late 1800s and closely tied to the Brandywine Creek region of Pennsylvania, this variety is often linked to Amish growers, though the connection isn't definitively documented. Tomato varieties resembling it appeared in American seed catalogues from the 1890s onward. Its reintroduction by seed-saver Ben Quisenberry in the early 1980s helped spark the broader heirloom tomato revival that followed, cementing Brandywine's reputation as the benchmark against which other heirloom tomatoes are still measured.