How to Grow Roma Tomatoes In Pots, Balcony, Backyards

How to grow Roma Tomatoes in pots

Today we discuss How to Grow Roma Tomatoes In Pots, Balconies, and Backyards

Introduction to Roma Tomatoes:

The Roma tomato will be sweet and plump which is popular for its less content of water and chewy internally. It is mostly used for making tomato paste and for the purpose of canning. In order to grow Roma tomatoes, you need to first bring the seedings and choose a location which is sunny. You have two ways to grow Roma tomatoes. You can start growing Roma tomatoes in pots and you can also grow them in your garden beds. After completion of the first frost date, keep your Roma tomato in a pot or in a hole, cover the pot with soul and keep watering it for every 2 or 3 days. By putting a little effort, you can grow Roma tomatoes in a simple manner. Now, let us get into how to grow Roma tomatoes in pots.

Soil requirements:

The soil which is most suitable for growing Roma tomatoes is the one which is well drained, loamy and light. The soil should be rich in terms of organic matters such as compost, manure, and humus.

Growing Roma Tomatoes in pots

• If you planned to grow the Roma tomatoes prior to 3 months of the last frost date, then you can grow seedlings.
• If you have enough space in your garden, you can grow Roma tomatoes in the soil. Whereas, if you do not have good space, you can keep your tomatoes in the containers which are drained well.
• Healthy plants can be grown in both pots and in garden spaces.
• Before the plantation of tomatoes, you need to ensure that the place outside that is getting enough sunlight for growth. If you are planting the tomatoes in the garden, select a place which has less coverage of shade.
• If the plantation is done in containers, you can move the plants to sunlight in an easy way.
• Roma tomatoes will need a lot of sunlight in order to get the crops which are juicy.
• The seeds of tomatoes will take 8 weeks for the germination to take place. When you are planning to start them from the stage of a seed, the plantation should be done in containers so that the seeds can be grown into seedlings prior to the striking of the spring.
• The frost date is the average day when the temperature increases to 0 °C.
• For the determination of the date of frost, you can take the help of many online resources.
• Now, start digging a hole in the garden which is having the size of the root system of plants. The size of the root system of the Roma tomato plant will be 4 inches in length and 3 inches in width.
• The space between your Roma tomatoes should be at least 2 feet if you are growing them in the garden because these plants will grow very well with good space in between them.
• If you are growing the Roma tomatoes in pots, you have to make use of a 15-inch pot with at least 4 to 5 drainage holes and then fill the pot with the potting soil which is organic. Only one seedling per pot would be enough.
• While you are growing Roma tomatoes in your balcony, that is in pots, make use of a tomato cage for the reinforcement of structure of plant as it starts growing. By this, your Roma tomato plant will grow vertically rather than growing horizontally. To make use of them, stick the cage posts in the dirt if you are growing the Roma tomatoes in garden space.
• You need to place the bottom of the cage in the pot and dirt should be filled around it.
• The Roma tomato plants should be grown vertically so that juicy tomato will be produced. This will also help the tomatoes to get a good amount of sunlight.
• If you want to make some space, make use of your fingers or a tool in the garden for the creation of a hole which is wider. After this, keep the tomato plant root inside the soil. Keep your tomato plant in the pot at the center. After this, take some organic potting soil with the help of your garden tool and pour it at the plant base.
• Add some soil on the top. The potting soil which is an organic one will provide rich nutrients to your Roma tomato plants.
• After the plantation of tomato plants, make use of your watering can for the root saturation. Pour water on the plant base for at least half a minute till it becomes moist.
• Provide your plants with water immediately as this will help the roots take to the soil and begin to grow.

Read: Post Harvest Techniques for Fruits and Vegetables.

Maintenance of the Roma Tomato plants:

• There should be regular watering for the Roma tomato plants to grow and stay healthy. You can make use of a watering can for watering the plant base whenever the soil becomes dry.
• Do not saturate your soil too much. The draining of the soil will not happen properly if there is so much water and this will cause plant rot.
• Remember to use organic ingredients always for your Roma tomato plants to get the plants in a healthy way. Organic fertilizers are prepared from organic matter collected from animals and vegetables. For every 7 days, you can just sprinkle a tiny amount of fertilizer at the plant base. You can also make use of the compost for feeding your Roma tomatoes.
• This should be done before watering them in order to get the best results. By doing this, the water will help the fertilizer to get absorbed into the roots.
• Pruning is not needed for Roma tomatoes. You can go with trimming around the plant for getting rid of any areas which are not required or ideal. If you come to see any sort of leaves which turned yellow or brown, remove them by making use of pruning shears. You can do this if you any leaves or flowers which are wilted.
• Too much trimming should not be done. This may result in less yield.
• The leaves which are damaged can be trimmed and this will help the plant to save the nutrients.

The problem of pests:

The Roma tomatoes are plants which are durable. In a few situations, caterpillars which are also called tomato hornworms will start dwelling into the tomato plants searching for food. You need to monitor them and these will be in a bright green color. If you keep an eye on these bugs and find them, just take them and throw them at some other place in your garden. These hornworms are not that harmful, but they will eat the leaves of your tomato plant which makes it look ragged.

Ripening of Roma tomatoes:

• The Roma tomatoes will get ripened at the same time after two to three months. After they get ripened, they become heavy, firm and pure red and this would be the right time to pluck them. Make use of your hands and pull them in a gentle manner from the plant.
• Roma tomatoes will start turning red in colour when the temperature is above 29°C.
• If you wanted to prepare sauces, harvest the Roma tomatoes when they are in the color of bright red and firm.
• Allow your Roma tomatoes to get ripened for some more days long if you want to can them. Only pick them when they are dark red in color and slightly squishy.

Read: Parwal Farming.