Potato leaf tomato varieties
Potato-leaf tomatoes have smooth-edged, undivided leaves that look more like a potato plant than a tomato. The trait is recessive, visible from the first true leaves, and says nothing about the fruit, which the ten varieties on this page show well. Six are large heirloom beefsteaks of 280 g and more: the pink Brandywine, Pruden's Purple, Marianna's Peace and Stump of the World, the orange-gold Yellow Brandywine, and Green Giant, the first known potato-leaf green tomato. The rest break the pattern: Black Sea Man is a determinate brown-black slicer, Japanese Black Trifele a dark pear-shaped paste type, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf a knee-high Dwarf Tomato Project plant, and Stupice a compact early plant with 30 to 85 g red fruit. The leaf is a useful identification cue: you can tell these varieties apart from a mislabelled seedling months before the first fruit sets.
- Varieties
- 12
- Days to harvest (from transplant)
- 55–90
- Fruit weight
- 1–32 oz (30–900 g)
- Growth habit
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9 Indeterminate
2 Determinate
1 Dwarf
All 12 potato leaf tomato varieties
How to choose
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Use the leaf as a check on your seed, not as a growing consideration. Potato leaf is recessive and visible from the first true leaves, so if you bought Brandywine and the seedling has ordinary serrated foliage, you have either a different strain or a mislabelled packet. That is worth catching in May rather than in August.
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Do not read potato leaf as a season length. The range on this page runs from Stupice at 55 days from transplant, one of the earliest tomatoes in the catalogue, to Yellow Brandywine at 90. The six large beefsteaks sit at 72 to 90 days with fruit of 280 to 900 g and need a long summer; Stupice, the 65-day Sweet Scarlet Dwarf and the 75-day Black Sea Man do not.
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Expect somewhat less foliage cover than an ordinary tomato, because the undivided leaf presents less surface. In hot climates that can mean more sunscald on exposed fruit, and it is one of the few practical consequences of the trait rather than a curiosity.
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Do not confuse potato leaf with herbicide damage. Distorted, narrowed foliage from drift is a real and common problem, and gardeners sometimes mistake a healthy potato-leaf seedling for a damaged one. The difference is that potato leaf is smooth-edged and symmetrical; herbicide damage twists and cups.
Compare side by side
| Color | Uses | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Sea Man | 75 | 4–10 oz (110–280 g) | Determinate | 3 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Slicing, Fresh & salads | |
| Brandywine | 85 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| German Pink | 85 | 10–16 oz (280–450 g) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing | |
| Glacier | 55 | 1–3 oz (40–80 g) | Determinate | 4 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Snacking | |
| Green Giant | 85 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing | |
| Japanese Black Trifele | 80 (estimated) | 4–6 oz (110–170 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Roasting | |
| Marianna's Peace | 85 (estimated) | 16–32 oz (450–900 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Pruden's Purple | 72 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Stump of the World | 85 | 10–24 oz (280–680 g) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Slicing, Fresh & salads | |
| Stupice | 55 | 1–3 oz (30–85 g) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Snacking, Slicing | |
| Sweet Scarlet Dwarf | 65 (estimated) | 6–16 oz (170–450 g) (estimated) | Dwarf | 4 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Snacking | |
| Yellow Brandywine | 90 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing |
Values marked like this (estimated) are model estimates, not confirmed from a source.
Frequently asked questions
What is a potato-leaf tomato?
A tomato whose leaves are smooth-edged and undivided rather than deeply serrated, resembling potato foliage. It is a recessive genetic trait visible from the first true leaves and unrelated to fruit quality.
Does potato leaf affect the fruit?
Not directly. The trait is about foliage shape, not fruit. Many potato-leaf varieties in circulation are large indeterminate heirloom beefsteaks, and six of the ten on this page fit that description, but Stupice with its small early fruit, the determinate Black Sea Man and the knee-high Sweet Scarlet Dwarf show that the leaf predicts nothing about what the plant carries.
Is my seedling potato leaf or damaged by herbicide?
Potato-leaf foliage is smooth-edged, symmetrical and looks healthy. Herbicide drift produces twisted, cupped, narrowed growth that gets worse on newer leaves. If the plant looks tidy and simply has undivided leaves, it is the genetic trait.
Which famous tomatoes are potato leaf?
Brandywine is the best known, along with Yellow Brandywine, Pruden's Purple, Marianna's Peace and Stump of the World, all large heirloom slicers, and Green Giant among the green-fruited kinds. Stupice, the Czech early tomato, Black Sea Man, Japanese Black Trifele and Sweet Scarlet Dwarf carry the trait too. Cherokee Purple is often described as potato leaf, but its standard strain is regular leaf; a separate potato-leaf strain is sold under its own name.
Can I use the leaf to verify a seed packet?
Yes, and it is one of the few verification methods available before fruiting. If a variety is documented as potato leaf and your seedling has serrated foliage, something is wrong with the seed, not with your growing.