Growing Roma Tomatoes for Cooking and Home Canning 1

Roma tomatoes are a meatier, less seedy variety of tomato, perfect for cooking up into thick, rich sauces or for dehydrating.

As you gear up for gardening season, it’s time to consider which fruits and vegetables you’d like to incorporate into your garden.

Whether it’s your first time attempting a backyard garden or you consider yourself gifted with a green thumb, tomatoes are an easy, delicious choice to include in the lineup.

Specifically, be sure to include some Roma tomatoes!

If you’re ready to dive in and learn more about how to successfully grow Roma tomatoes, here’s a brief guide to help you get started:

Introduction to Roma Tomatoes

Technically, Roma tomatoes are a specific variety of paste tomato.

Paste tomatoes are meatier than slicing tomatoes, making them a favorite for cooking down into thick, rich pasta sauces.

Calling all paste tomatoes by the Roma name is kind of like calling all facial tissue Kleenex. The Roma variety has become the face of paste tomatoes and we often call all paste tomatoes by that name.

These small, elongated tomatoes are firm to the touch and contain fewer seeds and less moisture than many other variants.

Roma tomatoes typically grow about three feet tall and can be cultivated outdoors in a garden bed or planted in a container. They’re a great option for gardeners who are short on space.

They are determinate, so they’ll all ripen at once – not throughout the season.

Water, soil, and sun exposure

Roma tomatoes love the sunlight and, in optimal conditions, should receive eight hours of full sun exposure each day.

Take care to give your Roma tomatoes sufficient water on a regular schedule.

Don’t oversaturate the soil, especially if you’re attempting to grow your Romas in a pot.

Romas thrive in rich, nutrient-dense earth, but they perform best in light, loamy soil. Take care to ensure the soil can drain properly and won’t trap too much moisture.

If you have a way to test your soil, make sure the pH levels are between 6.2 to 6.8 before planting your seeds to ensure optimal growth.

Fertilize your roma tomatoes every couple of weeks. 

Using natural fertilizers like fish emulsion or seaweed-based fertilizers will give your roma tomatoes a boost.

And be sure to consider starting a compost pile if you don’t already have one – this rich organic matter is perfect for fueling your roma tomatoes’ growth.

How much space do Roma tomatoes need?

Roma tomatoes don’t need too much space to grow, but you should give them a little breathing room.

Leave a foot or two of space between each Roma tomato plant for prime growing conditions.

Temperature

Roma tomatoes grow best in temperatures that range between 55 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit; don’t them too early in the season.

Take it from me: You might think you’re getting a jump on the growing season, but plant them too early and you’ll come to know the phrase “failure to thrive.”

Wait until you’re well beyond the final frost of the year before planting your Roma tomatoes to avoid any issues.

Growth habits

As soon as your plants are tall enough, begin to stake them off the ground.

You can use traditional tomato stakes or tomato cages to accomplish this pretty easily.

Roma tomatoes are determinate, which means they stay fairly compact. There’s no need to prune them.

Feel free to remove any leaves or stems that look scraggly or malnourished, but don’t trim back too much of your Roma tomato plant. Otherwise, you’ll be losing out on some of your harvest.

Pests and other problems

Roma tomatoes are resistant to many of the diseases and pests that plague gardens, making them a great choice for a beginning gardener or one planting in an area prone to pests.

Most varieties are resistant to fusarium wilt and verticillium wilt, two common problems that plague garden plants.

However, they are still susceptible to a couple of common garden pests you’ll need to watch for.

One of the biggest threats to your Roma tomatoes are tomato hornworms.

These bright green caterpillars enjoy nothing more than chomping on tomato leaves, leaving your plants ragged and sad.

Handpicking them is the best way to remove them from your garden naturally.

You can deter hornworms by adding a companion plant nearby. Dill, basil, and some wildflowers repel these worms. [More on companion planting here.]

Other problems Roma tomatoes face as they grow stem from poor growing conditions.

Blossom end rot emerges as a big black spot at the bottom of ripening fruit. This is the result of too little calcium, likely caused by a deficiency in the soil.

To correct this, incorporate extra eggshells into your compost pile. The added calcium can help correct this blight.

How to harvest

Since Roma tomatoes are determinate, instead of ripening at various times throughout the season, all of your Roma tomatoes will ripen at roughly the same time.

They’ll be ready to harvest around three months after they’re first planted.

Watch your tomatoes closely as they grow and give them special attention as they ripen, ensuring they receive enough water to thrive.

You’ll want to pick your Roma tomatoes in part based on what you plan to do with them.

If you’re going to incorporate your tomatoes into a fresh salsa or salad, or you’re going to stew them down into a rich pasta sauce, you’ll want to pick them when they’re table ripe – bright red, firm to the touch, and no longer increasing in size on the vine.

If your plan is to can your tomatoes for future use, let them ripen a little longer. Pick them when they’re a little darker red and slightly softer to the touch for optimal canning.

What to do with Roma tomatoes

Because they naturally contain less liquid than slicing tomatoes, Roma tomatoes are a perfect choice for drying. Sun-dried tomatoes are usually Romas.

Roma tomatoes are also sweeter and more acidic than many other tomato variants.

This makes them a very popular choice for slow-cooking or simmering down into flavorful sauces for pizzas and pastas.

The native properties of Roma tomatoes also make them a prime choice for canning and preserving.

They also hold up well in fresh salsas. As you can see, there is no shortage of reasons to include a few Roma tomatoes in your garden!