Best Roma, Plum, and Paste Tomatoes

The Roma Tomato is the quintessential plum/paste tomato. Light on seeds and juice, it has thick fruit walls and dense flesh that holds onto seasonings and spices. Ever so good cooked into a thick sauce or paste, canned, or pureed. Compact plants produce meaty, egg-shaped fruits that are sweet and tangy. Skip the flavorless ones at the grocery store and grow your own Romas this summer.

• Plum/paste tomato
• Sweet, tangy flavor
• Small seed core
• Not juicy
• Good for containers

SEED PLANTING TIPS

• Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Growth type: Determinate, tomato cage support, no pruning
• Tomato size: Medium
• Depth to plant seeds: .25" deep
• Spacing between plants: 24" apart
• Spacing between rows: 36"-48" apart
• Days to germinate (sprout): 7-14 days
• Germination soil temps: 75F-95F
• Soil needs: 6.0-6.5 pH
• Sun needs: Full sun
• Frost hardy: No
• Planting season: Spring, summer
• # of plants per sq. ft.: Appx. 1 plant per 2 sq. ft.
• Days to maturity: 75-85 days

Click here to view our full Tomato grow guide

Good companion plants: Basil, Borage, Onion, Parsley, Pepper

We don’t say this about a lot of tomatoes, but the Yellow Pear Tomato really should be grown in every garden. We also don’t say this about a lot of tomatoes: It’s prolific. Ripens loads of lemon-yellow, pear-shaped 1"-2" fruits that are delicious straight off the vine. Keep a few empty bags on-hand to fill up and share these sweet, mild flavor bombs with friends and neighbors.

• Very high yields
• Sweet, mild flavor
• Low acidity
• Good for containers

SEED PLANTING INFO

• Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Growth type: Indeterminate, trellis support, regular pruning 
• Tomato size: Small (1"-2")
• Depth to plant seeds: 1/8" deep
• Spacing between plants: 24" apart
• Spacing between rows: 36"-48" apart
• Days to germinate (sprout): 7-14 days
• Germination soil temps: 75F-95F
• Soil needs: 6.0-6.5 pH
• Sun needs: Full sun
• Frost hardy: No
• Planting season: Spring, summer
• # of plants per sq. ft.: Appx. 1 plant per 2 sq. ft.
• Days to maturity: 75-80 days

Click here to view our full Tomato grow guide

Good companion plants: Basil, Borage, Onion, Parsley, Pepper

Can a tomato be a celebrity? Ask the San Marzano Tomato—if you can get past its bodyguards. One commercial grower proclaims it the “gold standard for taste.” Martha Stewart devoted an entire blog post to it. Certified tomatoes from Italy are regulated. It even has its own Wikipedia page. But at the end of the day, it’s still just a tomato. One that’s longer and thinner than other plum/paste tomatoes, with exceptional tomato flavor, meaty and thin skinned for slicing, few seeds and fleshy for saucing, and very high yields. We’ve joined the fan club. How about you?

• Sweet, intense flavor
• Very high yields
• Compact plant
• Good fresh or cooked

SEED PLANTING TIPS

• Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Growth type: Indeterminate, trellis support, regular pruning 
• Tomato size: Medium
• Depth to plant seeds: .25" deep
• Spacing between plants: 24" apart
• Spacing between rows: 36"-48" apart
• Days to germinate (sprout): 7-14 days
• Germination soil temps: 75F-95F
• Soil needs: 6.0-6.5 pH
• Sun needs: Full sun
• Frost hardy: No
• Planting season: Spring, summer
• # of plants per sq. ft.: Appx. 1 plant per 2 sq. ft.
• Days to maturity: 75-90 days

Click here to view our full Tomato grow guide

Good companion plants: Basil, Borage, Onion, Parsley, Pepper

The Rio Grande Tomato is a classic plum/paste tomato that gets along with heat, humidity, and drought, but that’s only one of its maravilloso qualities. The plant produces muchos bright red, egg-shaped fruits with a flavor that’s well-balanced between dulce and acidic. Especially bueno for pastes and sauces, but it wouldn’t mind being chopped up into fresh pico de gallo with a little onion, jalapeño, and cilantro.

• Heat tolerant
• Sweet and acidic
• High yields
• Good for Southern jardines

SEED PLANTING INFO

• Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Growth type: Determinate, tomato cage support, no pruning
• Tomato size: Medium
• Depth to plant seeds: .25" deep
• Spacing between plants: 24" apart
• Spacing between rows: 36"-48" apart
• Days to germinate (sprout): 7-14 days
• Germination soil temps: 75F-95F
• Soil needs: 6.0-6.5 pH
• Sun needs: Full sun
• Frost hardy: No
• Planting season: Spring, summer
• # of plants per sq. ft.: Appx. 1 plant per 2 sq. ft.
• Days to maturity: 75-80 days

Click here to view our full Tomato grow guide

Good companion plants: Basil, Borage, Onion, Parsley, Pepper

The Green Grape Tomato produces clusters of 6-8 fruits on a compact plant all summer long. The slightly oblong 1" fruits turn a light yellow-green when ripe, with a sweet, sharp flavor that’s a bit like citrus. These look so much like green grapes, you may be tempted to make vino de tomato verde, but please resist.

• Sweet, citrus flavor
• Reliable producer
• High yields
• Good for containers

SEED PLANTING TIPS

• Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Growth type: Indeterminate, trellis support, regular pruning 
• Tomato size: Small (1" oval)
• Depth to plant seeds: 1/8" deep
• Spacing between plants: 24" apart
• Spacing between rows: 36"-48" apart
• Days to germinate (sprout): 7-14 days
• Germination soil temps: 75F-95F
• Soil needs: 6.0-6.5 pH
• Sun needs: Full sun
• Frost hardy: No
• Planting season: Spring, summer
• # of plants per sq. ft.: Appx. 1 plant per 2 sq. ft.
• Days to maturity: 70-80 days

Click here to view our full Tomato grow guide

Good companion plants: Basil, Borage, Onion, Parsley, Pepper