Tomato | Roma Tomato

Grow the ultimate paste tomato for homemade sauces, salsas, and canning! Roma tomatoes are a dependable favorite for home gardeners, famous for their dense, meaty flesh, low moisture content, and rich flavor.

Unlike juicy slicing tomatoes, plum-style Romas have fewer seeds and less watery gel, making them the absolute best choice for cooking down into rich sauces, pastes, and stews. These productive, compact plants deliver a heavy harvest of uniform red fruits throughout the season.

Why Grow Roma Tomatoes?

• Classic, meaty plum tomatoes with low moisture content
• The top choice for homemade sauces, paste, salsa, and canning
• Excellent flavor with fewer seeds and less watery gel
• Dependable, heavy-yielding variety
• Approximately 75–80 days to maturity
• Grows best in full sun
• Approximately 40–50 seeds per packet

How to Grow Roma Tomatoes from Seed

Start Roma tomato seeds indoors approximately 6–8 weeks before your last expected spring frost. Sow seeds about 6 mm (¼ inch) deep in a quality seed-starting mix and keep warm and consistently moist until germination.

Provide seedlings with plenty of bright light once they emerge. Before planting outdoors, gradually harden off the seedlings. Transplant into the garden after the danger of frost has passed and outdoor conditions have warmed.

Choose a location with full sun and fertile, well-drained soil. Roma plants are often semi-determinate or compact bush types, but they still benefit greatly from light staking or cages to keep the heavy clusters of fruit off the ground.

Water consistently, particularly during flowering and fruit development, while avoiding prolonged waterlogged conditions.

Growing Roma Tomatoes in Canada

Roma tomatoes thrive in warm weather, so Canadian gardeners will get the best results by starting seeds indoors rather than direct sowing.

Avoid transplanting too early. Tomatoes are frost-sensitive and perform best once both the soil and nighttime temperatures have warmed.

For detailed instructions covering seed starting, transplanting, spacing, watering, fertilizing, pruning, common problems, harvesting, and seed saving, read our Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes in Canada.

Roma Tomato Growing Information

Grow Your Own Roma Tomatoes

There is nothing quite like opening a jar of homemade tomato sauce made from your very own garden harvest. With their dense flesh and rich flavor, Roma tomatoes are an essential addition to any backyard vegetable plot.

Start your Roma tomatoes from seed this season and enjoy the satisfaction of growing your own kitchen staples from scratch.