The Demo Garden Blog

In the world of tomatoes, especially heirloom tomatoes, we often see something like “100 days” or “70 days.” This is referring to the Days to Maturity. In the case of tomatoes, it means how long it will be from the day you transplant a seedling to the day you start picking ripe tomatoes. A lot of hybrids tend to fall in the 60-75 day range, while the whole spectrum of tomatoes can go from 50 days to 120+ days. I have to be honest that I glance at that number when I’m picking tomatoes, but I usually don’t really pay much attention. However, the difference becomes quite stark when you have a 60 day tomato planted right next to a 100 day tomato, as is the case in the Demo Garden this year.

Here’s the difference between a 70 day Brandymaster (hybrid Brandywine) and Brandywine itself (100 days).

The Red Brandymaster has several tomatoes that are nearly ripe.

The Brandywine plant is just starting (finally!) to set tomatoes. Actually, I’m impressed that it’s setting tomatoes as hot as it’s been.