Roma

Description
This vigorous, heavy cropping, semi-bush type has been specially bred for making ketchup, tomato juice and soups. It produces small, smooth, plum fleshy tomatoes with hardly any seeds. A slightly different flavour than your normal tomato and is still great to eat fresh to. Can be grown in or outdoors.

Best time to plant
In a greenhouse in April If you have a harsh frost the plants will turn blue and you may lose some of the leaves, but the plant should still grow out of it when it warms up. If the main stem collapses then you have lost your plant but that is unusual. If you're planting outside then the 3rd week in May is the best time to plant them after the frosts have gone.

Harvest
Roughly 8 weeks after planting. Once the plum tomatoes are red and swollen.

Growing Instructions
Plant 45cm apart in well drained soil/large pot/grobag in your greenhouse. If you don't have a greenhouse, you can grow on in a conservatory/window until all frosts have passed then slowly acclimatise them to the outdoors over 4-6 days and find the sunniest/warmest position you have in your garden. Keep the young plants well watered until established and in dry weather. As they grow they may need support. Feed only once you see 3-4 tomatoes starting to swell NOT BEFORE (this is because the plant will not want to reproduce if it’s being fed and watered nicely). Remove any rotting/dead leaves as the plant grows. Its a semi bush type so may need some side shooting or trimming if it becomes a bit wild.

Tip
Irregular watering can cause all sorts of problems, make sure you water and feed the soil evenly, try to keep it moist (but not soaking/soggy) DO NOT use farm yard manure on your tomatoes and cucumbers, as farmers sometimes use a hormone weed killer on barley/wheat/straw that is then used as bedding. This will dramatically harm your crop!