it looks a little bit slow to get its true leaves out, but it does look nice and sturdy though apart from the pale leaves. the fish emulsion will give them a boost and if they seem a bit sluggish you can push them along a bit by using the fish emulsion every week or fortnight up until theyre ready to plant out. compared to the cherry toms they will seem very slow as the cherries just rocket away compared to the romas. They just need a little boost but apart from that theyre looking good. Trancegemini

There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to peel, or do ANYTHING ELSE to tomatoes if they are run through a food strainer. I only cut in halves, as most wont easily fit the hopper whole. I dig out seeds and the watery liquid only. The food strainer removes ALL skins and any seeds left. Peeling tomatoes before putting into the food strainer is simply extra work that is not necessary. NEVER add cheese to any home canned tomato sauces! Add it after you open, reheat and serve. Unless you doing just a couple of cups of tomatoes, a Foley, or Chinois is nearly worthless for high output with no excessive labor involved. I canned 52 quarts one year. I couldn't see myself putting all those in a Foley or Chinois or even a regular screened kitchen strainer. I also use mine to extract all the juices and pulp from red raspberries, by using the finer holed berry screen. Well worth the cost and will give you a LOT more from tomatoes with a lot less effort. Here is a link that might be useful: Villaware/Roma food strainers

Hello digdirt , I don't know what to say to you. In my opinion other than certain matters on space I think you give very good advice especially for open space gardens and from the pictures it is very well done but you seem overly generous with space when intensive methods are considered and I can see why you don't feel the need. I am just explaining what can be done with space limitations what is possible if this or that. In sfg for example they found that twice as much poor soil did worse than half good soil etc. I also said I can much more easily control disease as I explained. I know my soil is better than X 2 top soil or what ever they use commercially outdoors typically. Roma Paste Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum 1-2 oz. Tender Annual "An early-maturing paste tomato for short-season bioregions. Ideal for canning and sauces. Determinate. (70-75 days) Planting Depth: 1/2" Soil Temp. for Germ.: 70-85F Days to Germ.: 10-14 Plant Spacing: 18-24" Days to Maturity: 85 Full Sun Moderate Water" http://www.dirtworks.net/Organic-Tomato-Seeds.html How many sources do you want? Its 18-24 inches. I assume top soil in this estimate, not compost, peat and vermiculite so I figured I could do less than 18" as I have done. Here is another that suggests even tighter spaces. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/23505/ "15-18 in. (38-45 cm)" http://www.liseed.org/tomlist.html "ROMA VF- compact vines, midseason plum tomato developed by USDA for high solids and sweetness (4.7-5.2 brix), one of the most grown garden variety plum tomatoes since they yield well under a variety of conditions and can be used for canning whole or cooked into sauce or chunked into salads. More extended harvest than CHICO." The typical range given for determinates is 12-24" and why would a plant described as compact plant take the maximum space especially with intensive methods? I don't have disease or pest problems with Toms and Romas in particular. Rotate soil, use compost and drip water. If I get any then the soil goes into black plastic garbage bags on the drive way for the summer and rotated back in and mixed with compost. Growing up my brother had to dust his cucumbers probably because they were in the same place every year. I never dusted anything because I rotated. Squash bugs got me once even in a new bed so its not fool proof nasty thing can find you. Romas are particularly adept at close quarters which I have repeated several times and have actually grown for years more so in the past with lots of space. When I was young I was no big fan of raw tomatoes( I am now) and did Romas exclusively because I loved the sauce. Did I notice a difference in yield or disease? No. I actually did the research as I typically do when I do anything. Now I have experienced both. Using heavy duty cages with Romas just wastes space. As to 100 cm space it was with about half total output. I am trying to make sauce with these fruits. If you want bigger individual fruit then this study indicates 100 cm at a cost of much lower production. If I want bigger fruit I just grow a beef steak. Sokoto , Nigeria is in the tropics and if they were to grow more "prolific" in any north American zone I would be extremely surprised.

Good afternoon! Finally got a chance to sit down!!!! Roasted my largest cookie sheet full of Romas of yesterday and made Roasted tomato soup. I gave some to my step-father a couple years ago, and he raved about it, so that's been his birthday gift for a couple years now. So yesterday's soup has my step-father's name on the containers! I gave them a call and they came over for a wee visit and I sent the soup home with them. He's ecstatic. So first thing this morning, another baking sheet went in the oven for soup for US. Also made spaghetti sauce, with meat, and another huge pot of meatless. Decided not to make chili sauce. I really only use it for my meat loaf, and living in Mennonite country, I can always buy a jar when the 4 I have left my last batch are finished. Sent some romas home with mom, and I still have about 10 lb or so left. What else can you think of I can do with them? Love bruschetta and will make more, but that just gets rid of 3 or 4. Wish there was a way of keeping it longer. Love that stuff.