Cherry Roma Tomato Vegetable Seeds Packet

• Seed trays or small pots: For the 6-8 week indoor start before transplanting.
• Heat mat: Tomato seed germinates fastest and most evenly at a steady 75-85°F.
• Seed-starting mix: A sterile, fine mix reduces damping-off risk.
• Grow light: Keeps seedlings short and sturdy through the indoor period.
• Stakes, cages, or twine: Cherry Roma is an indeterminate plant with heavy trusses, so set a tall stake or cage at transplant.

• Pruners or garden scissors: Cut whole trusses or individual fruit cleanly at the stem.
• Shallow tray or colander: Small fruit crushes when piled in a deep basket.
• Baking sheets or a dehydrator (optional): Dense, low-seed flesh is well suited to oven-drying and roasting.
• Freezer bags: Whole fruit freezes well for winter sauce.

Tip: Pick fully colored fruit regularly. Frequent picking keeps the plant setting new trusses.

Light:

• Requires full sun, at least 6-8 hours daily.

Soil:

• Prefers rich, well-drained loam, pH 6.2-6.8, with compost worked in before transplanting.

Watering:

• Requires deep, consistent watering, about 1-2 inches per week, applied at soil level.
• Keep moisture even through fruit set to limit splitting and blossom end rot.

Temperature & Climate:

• Grows well in warm temperatures, ideally 70-85°F.
• Sensitive to frost. Transplant only after all frost danger has passed and the soil has warmed to 60°F or more.

Fertilization:

• Apply a balanced fertilizer at planting time.
• Side-dress with phosphorus and potassium once fruit sets.
• Avoid excess nitrogen, which produces leafy growth at the expense of fruit.

Staking & Support:

• Tie to a tall stake or cage as the plant grows. Cherry Roma is an indeterminate plant that reaches 5 to 7 feet and carries heavy trusses.

Mulching:

• Apply organic mulch to hold soil moisture even, which reduces blossom end rot and cracking, and to suppress weeds.

Pruning:

• Remove suckers to focus growth on main stems and fruit.
• Remove lower leaves that touch the soil to reduce disease splash-up.

Watering:

• Water deeply at the base of the plant and avoid wetting the foliage, which keeps leaf diseases down.

Harvesting:

• Pick fully colored fruit regularly, individually or by the truss.

Storing:

• Store ripe tomatoes at room temperature, away from direct sun, and never below 50°F, since refrigeration dulls flavor and texture.
• Use within about a week fresh, or process into sauce, roast, or freeze for longer storage.

• Treating it like a salad cherry only: the dense, low-seed flesh is well suited to drying, roasting, and sauce as well as fresh eating
• Late or light staking: a tall indeterminate plant with heavy trusses needs support set at transplant
• Inconsistent watering: swings between dry and wet cause splitting and blossom end rot

1. Culinary Applications:

• Halved, salted, and slow-roasted for oven-dried style tomatoes
• Quick pan sauce, since the dense flesh cooks down fast
• Fresh in salads and on skewers
• Dried or frozen whole for winter use

2. Nutritional Benefits:

• Vitamin C and potassium in typical tomato ranges
• Red fruit, so lycopene is present as in other red tomatoes
• Low in calories relative to volume

3. Garden Uses:

• Heavy trusses of 1 to 2 inch plum-shaped fruit through late summer
• Tall indeterminate plants that suit a trellis or tall cage
• A dual-purpose tomato for gardeners who want one plant for snacking and sauce

4. Practical Benefits:

• Low seed count means less prep work
• Dense flesh holds up to drying and roasting
• Worth planning for: tall support and even watering

• Fruit: The edible part, eaten ripe, raw or cooked. Cherry Roma fruit is small and plum-shaped, 1 to 2 inches long.

Raw tomato, per 100g (standard reference value; Cherry Roma is a small, plum-shaped red type)

Calories: 18 kcal

• Carbohydrates: 3.9 g
• Protein: 0.9 g
• Total fat: 0.2 g
• Dietary fiber: 1.2 g
• Vitamin C: 13.7 mg (15% RDA)
• Folates: 15 µg (4% RDA)
• Potassium: 237 mg
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

Good companions

• Basil: a classic tomato neighbor that may help deter some pests and shares the same warm-season needs
• Onions, garlic, chives: low competition for space, and the scent may confuse some pests
• Carrots, parsley, marigolds: low competition, and marigolds add habitat for beneficial insects

Poor companions / avoid

• Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, kale): compete for nutrients and space
• Fennel: allelopathic, inhibits the growth of many nearby plants, tomatoes included
• Potatoes: same family, so late blight and early blight pass easily between them
• Corn: shares the tomato fruitworm (corn earworm)

• Hornworms: large green caterpillars that strip foliage quickly; handpick or treat with Bt
• Aphids and whiteflies: cluster on new growth and leaf undersides; strong water spray or insecticidal soap
• Spider mites: fine webbing and stippled leaves, worse in hot, dry weather

• Early blight, late blight, septoria leaf spot: fungal leaf diseases that spread in wet, humid weather; mulch, prune lower leaves, and water at the base
• Blossom end rot: a dark, sunken patch on the fruit bottom caused by inconsistent watering and calcium uptake, not by a pathogen
• Fruit splitting: small fruit can split after heavy rain or a sudden watering following a dry spell; keep moisture steady

Cherry Roma grows in full sun in rich, well-drained soil with deep, even watering. Plant it deep at transplant, stake or cage it tall, and remove lower leaves that touch the soil.

Both, in effect. The fruit is a small, plum-shaped 1 to 2 inch tomato with meaty, low-seed flesh, which makes it behave like a paste tomato in a cherry-sized package.

Expect roughly 70 to 75 days from transplant. Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost and transplant once the soil reaches 60°F.

Fresh eating, oven-drying, slow roasting, and quick sauce. The dense flesh and low seed count mean the fruit holds together and cooks down faster than a round cherry.

Pick when the fruit has colored fully and gives slightly. Fruit ripens in trusses over several weeks, so pick regularly through the season.

Vacuum-sealed Shido Seeds packets stay viable for up to 10 years when stored properly, compared to roughly one year for a standard paper seed packet. Storing unused packets somewhere cool and dry helps preserve that extended shelf life.

Plants are indeterminate and reach about 5 to 7 feet over the season, so plan for a tall stake, cage, or trellis.

Yes. Every Shido Seeds packet, Cherry Roma included, is germination-tested at independent third-party labs before it ever reaches a shelf.