McGee Tomato
Price: $2.95
SKU: 3402001The 'McGee' tomato, originally introduced in 1909,[1] is named after its originator and early promoter, Professor M. C. McGee (1858-1926) of San Marcos, Texas. His obituary stated, "Another of his achievements was the propagation of a tomato, the famous McGee tomato which for many years was extensively grown throughout Texas and the southern states."[3]
After his death, his family continued to run small classified advertisements in newspapers throughout the South. Southern seedsmen, for example Chris Reuter's Seed Company of New Orleans, began offering it to their customers by the late 1920s. We received seed and grew out our stock from the USDA, ARS accession number PI 644964. Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds.
Harvest Timing: Early/Short Season
- "Rice Journal," Vol. 22, page 58, October, 1919.
- "A Brief History of Hays County and San Marcos Texas," Written in serial form and published in THE SAN MARCOS RECORD during Centennial Year, by Dudley R. Dobie, 1948.
- "The Institute of Texan Cultures Oral History Program - Interview with Marion McGee," June 7, 1988.
Customer Reviews:
By David Niemi (Virginia) on July 1, 2024
I grew McGee tomatoes in multiple locations this year. They were sturdy-stemmed and vigorous from the very beginning, and as early as much smaller cherry types. Tomatoes are Campari-sized, with a nice well-rounded taste, solid and juicy, and highly productive. So far, resistant to Fusarium that has been afflicting other tomato varieties in nearby locations.
By Mark Dewey on November 23, 2016
This is one of my favorite tomatoes for flavor out of about 140 varieties, or so. I grew it in 2016. It had a nice acidic flavor where most varieties (out of almost a hundred, this year) were nowhere near acidic. It wasn't as acidic as an orange Early Girl F1, though. It definitely wasn't mealy. It wasn't productive or early for me, this year (2016), but it probably could have been in better soil, and it probably needs some acclimatization to the semi-arid conditions and clay loam soil. I saved seeds for next year; so, hopefully it produces more like Mr.'s next year (or at least more productive than this year). Most tomatoes were later than their stated DTM this year, especially near the soil McGee was in. The fruits were small (almost cherry-sized, if not so). I grew it in the ground, but I imagine it could be a good container tomato. The plant wasn't large (but that may have been the soil). Anyway, I definitely recommend at least trying this one, for flavor. Hopefully I'll be allowed to update my review next year! :)
By Gary Brownfield on September 9, 2011
What a great little tomato. These fellows don't stop growing or producing large amounts of fruit till frost. I wished I had known they were going to grow so tall and I would have put out fewer plants and trellised them much higher. My wife canned 50 quarts of juice and it looks great in the jar. One bad thing is the tomato has a tendency to split on the vine if not kept picked quickly.
