I wouldn't sell plants with fruit on them. I don't even think plants that size should have flowers on them. Now if you want to sell larger plants that might have some flowers on them, that would be OK, but I wouldn't force them. And I'd explain that they really should remove the flowers before planting, to let the plant get established before fruiting, though some people won't. You're not doing your customers any favors selling them plants that won't produce well, and you're not doing yourself a favor either b/c people won't come back. A lot of people here have signs or "albums" with pictures and descriptions of the plants (DTM, etc.) and fruit to help people choose.

Bonsai is a different story.

As Marla said, it's up to us as growers to educate people about their food (and growing it themselves). If you explain how "bigger is NOT better" and patience pays off, maybe you can get more people to look for smaller plants and improve business for yourself and other growers as people reject the huge plants with fruit already on them they find at the big box stores.

I have sold both tomatoes and peppers with blooms and little fruits, at times. I don't allow the plants to get root bound, so those plants will go ahead and produce fruit with no problems. It happens naturally and as long as you don't let the plants get root bound (roots wrapping around the bottom/sides of the pots) there shouldn't be a problem. Transfer them into larger pots if need be.

Thank you, ajsmama, for the quote. I strongly feel about this. I've had several people tell me that my plants will not produce faster if they're bigger, but then again, it's the roots that count. The plants can be bigger and produce faster ONLY if they have to roots to support it.

Marla

Actually, carolyn137 (a respected tomato authority) posts on the Tomato forum here and she has an interesting perspective on this - link below.

Checked a few of my OP cherry toms in 1801s today and lots of nice white roots - not rootbound (yet) but definitely need to be potted up or transplanted ASAP. As Carolyn says, though, it seems to be a fibrous root system and as I found when potting up from 3606s to 4-ish size pots, if too dry or too wet the rootball can just fall apart and the roots are very fragile.

People are too used to getting 2-3ft tall plants with fruit already on them, or paying a couple bucks for a 6-pack the size Dr. Carolyn describes, to make money selling plants that have never been potted up from the 6-packs. Maybe I should try pricking out right into 1801s next year?

I do have a few 3606s with 3-4 plants left in them I haven't potted up (these were started in 5-cell Jiffy strips with 2-5 seedlings germinated in each cell, then pricked out and put in 6-packs a month later, so more than a month ago), was going to use those myself and plant this week, so I'll compare those against some that had been potted up one more time if I have any that don't sell, only thing is I don't have any BW left in 6-packs (unless I got them confused with PL GLaciers), and I have everything ELSE that I'm planting in the the 3606's The BWs went straight to 4.5" pots. And actually, those are the ones that don't seem to be growing as quickly (well, those and the Glaciers, could be a PL thing but the few Speckled Romans I have aren't as big as the things that got put in 1801s either).

But I've already got 4 huge plants (2 of them BW, 2 CP which I hope make it since they're the only ones I have of that variety) from my cousin to compare against my smaller (organic, started later) BWs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll down for carolyn's comment on rootbound plants

Tomato plants LIKE to be transplanted, the more the better, until some other plants. If you plant them into to too large of pot, they will try to fill the pot up with roots and look like they're not growing well. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or so, I've just found that the more I transplant them, the better the plant survives and produces.

Also if you plant in round pots instead of square pots, the plants roots are stronger.

Marla

Well, the BWs were the first to get potted up, and most of them are in round pots (I did put some in squares) so I can compare the ones I potted about the same time (some were earlier) to see how the roots are, and depending on what sells I can compare how they grow in the ground too (though that might not be fair since some of the ones I'm holding for myself were the very first ones potted up in borrowed pots and a few are very large, wouldn't do to compare them with smaller ones that people don't want to buy in square pots).

It does look like a measurable (though not large difference in height, mostly in stem diameter) difference now between the ones I left in 6-packs for myself (BB and BK) and the ones I potted up not that long ago. The GD are all very large, look pretty much the same whether in 3606 or 1801 - though I guess I should measure.

The 20" tall ones I got in 4.5" pots from my cousin and put into 2 gal right away don't seem to have grown any - though they're not failing either. I really should measure those. Now *those* were rootbound (and leggy). One had a flower that I pinched off and neither has produced any more flowers, even though he had used 4-month MiracleGro so I assumed there would still be enough to keep them going - but then again, there was so much root and I put so much more soil (Fafard#2 which also has some fertilizer) it was not much by volume in the new pots.

Sorry for going OT chuck, I should clarify that I wouldn't sell a plant for transplant with fruit on it. Of course if someone was going to raise a "patio" variety I would think that would be OK, even desirable as long as you were selling it in a large container, but 4" tall plants should not have fruit or flowers IMHO.