Roma tomato

Sun

Full sun; at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily.

Water

Water deeply when the soil surface starts to dry, keeping the root zone evenly moist but not waterlogged. Containers may need daily watering in hot weather.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil enriched with compost; ideally pH 6.0-6.8.

Height

3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m)

Spread

2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m)

Flowers

Small yellow flowers from late spring through summer, depending on planting time.

Foliage

Green, hairy, strongly scented leaves divided into irregular, toothed leaflets.

Growth

Fast; flowers and fruits within one growing season.

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.5 ft (0.15 m)

2. After 1 year

   3 ft (1.1 m)

   full size

Full size in one season.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant out after frost danger has passed and nights are consistently above 50°F (10°C); harden off indoor-grown plants first.
• Space plants 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) apart and install a sturdy tomato cage or short stakes at planting.
• Water at soil level rather than wetting the leaves, and avoid alternating drought with heavy soaking.
• Mulch once the soil has warmed, keeping mulch clear of the stem.
• Feed with a tomato fertilizer according to its label once fruit begins to set; avoid excessive nitrogen.

Pruning. Do not routinely remove side shoots: Roma is determinate, and heavy pruning reduces its crop. During the growing season, remove diseased leaves and lower leaves touching the soil, using clean tools.

Pick individual fruits when they are fully red and slightly yielding, usually about 75-85 days after transplanting, depending on warmth and growing conditions. Twist gently or snip the stalk; harvest regularly during the main flush. Before frost, bring full-sized green fruits indoors to ripen.

Late winter to early spring

Sow indoors 6-8 weeks before your expected last frost; provide warmth and strong light.

Spring

Pot seedlings on as needed and gradually harden them off before outdoor planting.

Late spring

Plant into warm soil after frost danger, install supports and water thoroughly.

Early summer

Mulch warmed soil and begin tomato feed when the first fruits set.

Summer

Maintain even moisture, check leaves for pests and disease, and harvest red fruits regularly.

Autumn

Collect remaining full-sized fruit before frost and remove spent plants; keep diseased material out of home compost.

• Plant in sunny raised vegetable beds, where its bushy habit is easier to contain than a tall cordon tomato.
• Use in a potager with basil, parsley and low edging flowers for a productive seasonal display.
• Grow one plant in a large patio container holding at least 10 US gallons (38 litres), with a cage and reliable watering.
• Arrange in supported rows in a kitchen garden for convenient picking and batch preserving.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Edible landscape, Homestead, Cottage garden, Family-friendly and Small-space.

Plant it with: Basil, Parsley, Lettuce, French marigold and Sweet alyssum.

Wildlife: Flowers provide pollen for bumblebees and other bees capable of buzz pollination, although tomatoes are self-fertile. Birds and small mammals may eat ripe fruit.

• Blossom-end rot: dark, sunken patches develop on the fruit base, often after uneven watering. Maintain steady moisture and mulch; add calcium only if a soil test shows a deficiency.
• Tomato blights: brown leaf lesions or rapidly blackening foliage and fruit need prompt attention. Keep foliage dry, allow airflow, remove affected material and replace plants if infection is extensive.
• Aphids: colonies distort soft growth and leave sticky honeydew. Wash them off with water, encourage natural predators and use insecticidal soap labelled for edible crops if needed.
• Whitefly: small white insects rise from leaf undersides when disturbed, especially under cover. Inspect regularly and use suitable biological controls in greenhouses or a labelled insecticidal soap outdoors.

Ripe tomato fruit is not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses in ordinary food amounts. Leaves, stems and unripe green fruit contain glycoalkaloids and should not be eaten or fed to animals; ingestion can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy, with larger amounts potentially more serious.

• Potato (Solanum tuberosum)

  The foliage can look similar, but potato usually has white, pink or purple flowers rather than yellow ones. Its small green berries are poisonous and are not tomatoes.

• Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

  It has simple rather than divided leaves, small white flowers and clusters of small berries that generally ripen black, not large red plum-shaped fruits. Do not eat unidentified nightshade berries.

The botanical epithet lycopersicum comes from Greek words meaning 'wolf peach'.

Propagation. Sow seed indoors in seed compost at about 70-80°F (21-27°C). Roma is open-pollinated, so seed saved from fully ripe fruit usually comes true if it has not cross-pollinated with another variety.

Accepted botanical name

Solanum lycopersicum

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Alaska, Hawaii, the lower 48 states, Pacific Basin, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

Native range

Peru.

Measured

Soil pH 7 to 7.5. Average height 19 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.