{"product_id":"tomate-roma-vf-ancestrale","title":"Roma VF Tomato Heirloom","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSolanum lycopersicum\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Italian sauce tomato par excellence. The Roma line was born in 1955 in the USDA laboratories at Beltsville (Maryland), from European paste-tomato lines from which it inherited its name and spirit. The \"VF\" suffix indicates its genetic resistance to two cryptogamic soil diseases that often ruin tomato patches — Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt — a precious advantage in gardens where Solanaceae have been rotating for several years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFruit shaped like a small elongated plum, 5 to 8 cm, bright red at maturity, with dense, firm, low-juice flesh and very few seeds. It's not the best tomato for a fresh salad — it frankly gains in cooking: marinara sauce, jar preserves, oven- or dehydrator-drying, homemade tomato paste reduced for hours on the stove. A determinate plant, therefore compact (90-120 cm), self-supporting, requiring no suckering, and producing in a concentrated wave over 3 to 4 weeks — practical when you want to put up a big batch in jars all at once for winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrower's tip:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sow indoors 6 to 8 weeks before last frost, at 22-25 °C, under generous light. Transplant by burying the stem up to the first leaves — tomatoes put out roots all along their buried stem, and the plant comes out sturdier and better anchored. In the garden, generous mulching to keep the soil cool and stable — it's the irregularity of watering that prevents calcium from reaching the fruits and causes blossom-end rot (the famous \"black bottom\"), not a lack of calcium in the soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOpen-pollinated. Stable variety, reproduces faithfully from sowing to sowing. Self-fertile, so few crossings to fear.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHeight: 90 to 120 cm. Determinate plant — light staking suffices, no suckering needed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaturity: 70 to 80 days after transplant.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExposure: full sun, sheltered from wind.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRich, deep, well-drained soil. Space plants 50 to 60 cm apart. Mulching recommended.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndoor start 6 to 8 weeks before last frost. Transplant once all risk of frost is past and the soil is at 15 °C minimum (late May \/ early June in Québec).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Joual Vert","offers":[{"title":"20","offer_id":42793343549612,"sku":"GC-H-TOMROM-20","price":0.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100","offer_id":42793343582380,"sku":"GC-H-TOMROM-100","price":3.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500","offer_id":42793343615148,"sku":"GC-H-TOMROM-500","price":12.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"2500","offer_id":42793343647916,"sku":"GC-H-TOMROM-2500","price":36.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0532\/1388\/8684\/products\/roma_422c8a48-9dca-4c45-9b51-92ab858755da.jpg?v=1699044984","url":"https:\/\/joualvert.ca\/en\/products\/roma-vf-tomato-heirloom-seeds","provider":"Joual Vert","version":"1.0","type":"link"}