Organic Tomato Roma is a certified organic, heirloom paste tomato loved for its elongated, bright red fruit and dense, meaty flesh. It's the variety most home cooks reach for once the tomato harvest is in full swing and it's time to turn fruit into sauce, salsa or a batch of oven-dried tomatoes preserved in oil. The low acid flavour cooks down beautifully, giving a rich, well-rounded base for the kitchen rather than a sharp, watery one.
As a determinate (bush) variety, Roma grows to a compact, manageable size and sets its fruit over a fairly concentrated period, which suits gardeners planning a preserving session rather than a slow trickle of tomatoes right through summer. The plant itself is strong and vigorous, and while it can be left to sprawl on the ground, staking it will keep the fruit clean and off the soil and make picking a lot easier once the branches are heavy with fruit.
Roma has been a favourite in Italian kitchens for generations, and it's easy to see why. The firm, meaty flesh has relatively little juice and few seeds, so it cooks down quickly into a thick sauce without hours at the stove. Whether you're after passata for the freezer, a fresh salsa for the table, or sun dried tomatoes in a jar of oil for the pantry shelf, this variety is built for exactly that job. Being grown from certified organic seed, it also fits neatly into an organic vegetable garden right from the start.
Growing Organic Tomato Roma
Sow from September through to November. Roma is tender and needs warmth to get going, so start seed indoors or under cover with a soil temperature of 20-30°C. A little bottom heat will help speed up germination, which typically takes 5-10 days. Sow at a depth of 6mm into a good quality seed raising mix and transplant seedlings out once all danger of frost has passed, spacing plants 60cm apart within the row and 90cm between rows. Stake plants to support the fruit load as it develops. Expect to be picking ripe tomatoes around 80-90 days after transplanting.
Pack contains 20 seeds