Quick Summary of Brandywine Covlik’s Strain
- 🌍 Origin: A specific strain of the famous American Brandywine heirloom tomato.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), featuring large, wide potato-type leaves. The bush is described as tall, slender, and somewhat sparse in foliage. It responds very well to fertilization.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, smooth, rounded-oblate beefsteaks. The color is often a subject of debate among growers—ranging from dark pink and crimson to almost brownish-dark depending on soil and camera lighting. Average weight is 200-400 g (7-14 oz).
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Exceptional, benchmark tomato flavor. Perfectly balanced, intense, and sweet. The flesh is described as the classic “Brandywine type”—so tender and buttery you could almost eat it with a spoon.
- ⏳ Yield & Performance: Mid-season. Like many large Brandywine strains, it can be a slow starter and dislikes extreme heat, often setting fruit much better in the second half of summer.
Brandywine Covlik’s Strain (USA).
I got the seeds out of curiosity—what is this “Brandywine” thing anyway? I ended up with the most delicious fruits. Seeds were from V. Redko. Greenhouse. Just 1 bush. Led in 2 stems. The bush is tall and slender. Potato leaf, wide, large, but sparse. It responds well to feeding. The stem can grow thick. The width of a 1-stem bush is about 50 cm (20 in). Foliage density is ~70% at the bottom and 30% at the top. Juicy, the flavor is rich, balanced, and vibrant like an Oxheart (Bychie Serdtse). 5+ out of 5 points. My yield so far is about 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs). But there is a good reserve: 5 kg (11 lbs) is easily achievable.
Edited September 28, 2020 by Drosera
I agree, Brandywine Covlik’s Strain is a very tasty variety. Perhaps only Brandywine Glick’s Strain can compare with it in taste. Flawlessly balanced classic tomato flavor, with just the right amount of tomato sweetness. The aroma, texture, richness, and balance are benchmark level. The first time I grew it was in 2019 outdoors; it wasn’t very productive (adapting to the environment), but quite large. I gutted the very first bitten fruit for seeds because I liked it so much. I love sweet tomatoes, my dad loves classic flavors, but Brandywine Covlik’s delighted us both. This is the old-school taste as it is—you take a tomato, sink your teeth into it, and that’s it… The variety has a new lover.
In 2020, I planted it in the greenhouse hoping for better yields. It was certainly better than outdoors, but not brilliant—we have very, very hot summers, and 2.5 weeks were a total loss for all varieties in general. Brandywine Covlik’s is quite a slow starter before it begins setting fruit, and it sets better in the second half of summer. It dislikes extreme heat. In the greenhouse, the taste of the first fruits slightly lacked sweetness, but then it evened out.
The Brandywine bush is sturdy, the leaves are potato-type and powerful, but the internodes in the greenhouse are a bit long. The trusses need to be tied up; they can kink even under a light load (although in my case, it might have been due to my watering regimen).
Edited November 4, 2020 by Oksana Evgenyevna
My photo of Covlik’s cross-section is begging to be posted here!
Shevyachok said:
My photo of Covlik’s cross-section is begging to be posted here!
A gorgeous cross-section, my mouth is watering.
And here is another cross-section of this delicious little tomato.
And a whole fruit. The plate is a regular dinner plate, for soup, a half-portion size. Definitely not a saucer.
SvetaR said:
And here is another cross-section of this delicious little tomato.
Sveta, yours looks like a “black” (dark/purple) tomato. What color is it actually supposed to be?
Mine was pink… Maybe I was growing the wrong one?
Mine is indeed a “black” (dark) one. And judging by Lyuda’s photo, hers is dark too.
SvetaR said:
Mine is indeed a “black” (dark) one. And judging by Lyuda’s photo, hers is dark too.
I just read about this variety again, they write that the flesh should be dark pink. So where did the dark seeds come from?
Where can I find it?
T@tk@ said:
So where did the dark seeds come from?
I checked, and for some reason it’s not labeled. But I think my seeds are from Larisa @CUCSA. Not 100% sure.
BRANDYWINE COVLIK’S STRAIN. Indeterminate, mid-season, potato leaf. The fruits are rounded, smooth and glossy, dark pink in color, average weight from 200 to 400 g (7-14 oz). The flesh is tender (“Brandywine” type — you can eat it with a spoon), juicy, very tasty. I got my seeds from Sofia. After trying this variety, I finally understood what “Brandywine-type flesh” actually means.
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Murka said:
dark pink in color,
Basically, as many phones as there are, that’s how many color variations you’ll get. Masha, in the photo it doesn’t look dark pink at all. More like red.
All descriptions agree on one thing – the tomato is dark-something. Either crimson, or dark pink, or a black tomato. Depends on how you interpret it… But it is very tasty and beautiful. Mine had potato leaves.
SvetaR said:
Basically, as many phones as there are, that’s how many color variations you’ll get. Masha, in the photo it doesn’t look dark pink at all. More like red.
Sveta, I try my best to take all photos in natural light outdoors. But even then, the color looks different on the phone and the PC. I wasn’t writing the color description based on the photo anyway.
Valtwelve said:
Brandywine Covlik’s Strain (USA)
And what is the difference compared to the regular Pink Brandywine?
tomatinka said:
And what is the difference compared to the regular Pink Brandywine?
If I had planted the regular pink Brandywine, I would answer, but alas…
And I don’t really plant Brandywine Covlik’s anymore either—I keep finding better and better varieties…
Edited January 24, 2024 by Valtwelve
