Growers’ Notes and Photos
I’ve had the seeds for this variety for a long time. Read some pretty decent reviews about it on the Ukrainian forums, and this year I finally gave it a try. Zero regrets.
Germination was good (I accidentally knocked over my first tray, so I soaked a second batch on March 25). Planted 6 bushes for myself and gave the rest away to friends. For me, they turned out to be mid-late season. It’s a determinate bush, but it definitely has some growth potential. All of mine were very uniform, reaching up to 3.2 ft (1 m) tall.
The bush in the picture is already half-picked. I almost didn’t post this photo because of the dry cracked dirt you can see on the ground, but couldn’t find a better shot.
Yield ended up being really solid. A little less than the Caspar F1 hybrid and similar types, but definitely more than a lot of other standard canning varieties.
The taste was a really pleasant surprise. The fruits are firm, but they aren’t rock-hard. The skin isn’t overly tough, and you can really taste the sweetness in them. I happily snacked on them right off the bush. Makes great juice, too.
So Missouri (along with Ivanushka) turned out to be my great discovery of the year.
Beautiful tomatoes… nice thick walls 🙂
Seeds were from Esme. 🤠
Turned out mid-late season for me too. In the greenhouse, they hit about 4 ft (1.2 m) tall.
Yield was slightly above average. Taste is good, practically zero acidity. Maybe a tiny bit mild.
The fruits are nice and firm, absolutely perfect for canning, but you can definitely eat them fresh off the vine too.
Edited August 31, 2015 by Rok5
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Determinate, mid-late season. Grows to about 3.2 ft (1 m) outdoors and can stretch up to 4 ft (1.2 m) when grown in a greenhouse.
- 📈 Yield: Very good to heavy. Growers report it out-yields many standard heirloom canning varieties, making it highly efficient for processing.
- 👅 Taste: Consistently described as sweet and very low in acid, bordering on mild. Unlike many firm processing types, the skin isn’t tough, making it pleasant for fresh eating right off the bush.
- 📦 Texture/Usage: The fruits are red, blocky/plum-shaped pastes with exceptionally thick walls. They are firm but not “rock-hard”, making them outstanding for canning, preserving, and juicing.
While this variety circulated widely on Ukrainian and Russian gardening forums as a traded seed, its origins are actually American. In the first post, the original seed packet is visible as a ziplock bag containing a paper label that reads “Peto Seed USA.” Petoseed was once one of the largest agricultural seed companies in the world (eventually merging into Seminis), famous for developing industry-standard processing tomatoes like Roma VF. “Missouri” appears to be one of their commercial canning varieties that made its way into the Eastern European market, where it was embraced by backyard growers for its exceptional thick walls and heavy yields.
