I check them daily. For the last few weeks I've been worried because I got lots of tomato flowers on the two plants I'm growing this year. But no fruits. I usually get a ripe tomatoe first week of July or definitely by second week. This year nothing so far I thought. Then yesterday I noticed few tiny tomatoes size of marbles . I was thinking did I miss these or did they just appear. Still not sure. Either way I'm glad they are fruiting now, though waaay later than usual.

Newbies sweat and worry. But suddenly there are these little marbles, and if yu dig deep into the maze there are giants that you missed, and new ones. Its just a lot of fun watching.

Also newbie but my experience of the past couple years tell me to expect nothing from volunteer tomatoes. They tend to be really small (penny size) and not edible at all. If you spend any effort caring them, just start from reliable seeds/transplants. Without that your time and effort may well likely be wasted. BTW, I check my plot weekly because our weather is perfect for tomatoes--60s to upper 80s everyday.

I check couple of times a day.

Every other day for cherry tomatoes. Otherwise I'll often be disappointed!

I had a volunteer cherry tomato plant last year, gave me loads of fruits!

Out of insecurity of 'what did I do wrong this time?', I check in the beginning of the season to see if each one has set fruit, then every so often to look see if there are any glaring examples of BER, and then later for signs of ripening.

Once the plants have began to set fruit, I keep watch over the leaves to check for signs of disease, but unless there's a stand out that catches my eye (like few fruits, or a LOT of fruit,) I don't check for new fruit often.

I have to inspect my plants every day for shoots growing out of the cages so I can poke them back in before they become too long to poke back in.

Oh, unruliness... that's a different subject entirely!

Sushi, I've been planting a garden which included tomatoes for well over 15 years and I STILL check at least twice a day. I love gardening, marvel at the miracle of plant life and can't get enough of wandering around my yard...inspecting and investigating. I get it and that feeling you have has never gone away, at least for me. I'm a newbie every year. Lol

Susu, I'm north of you by about 200 miles, and am having the same experience. Not just with tomatoes. Everything seems to be about two weeks behind and I planted everything at the same time I always do. Even my morning glories seem a bit lazy this year and haven't flowered yet and the vine has yet to cover my fence. Weird.

Yepperbepper im glad to hear that ( well .. Not glad it's happening , just glad that it's not just me) let's hope things pick up and end up being better than last year(s)

Interesting that your tomatoes are bearing in the heat, but if it cools off at night -- at least to the lower 70sF, it's not that surprising. If they come from your compost pile, and only your tomatoes went into your compost pile, and they weren't hybrids, you can be pretty sure that your volunteers are a variety that you once grew.

I check regularly for ripe tomatoes. I hardly check at all for green tomatoes.

Usually once a day, though sometimes with work I can't get out there and skip a day. Those two day visits are often extra exciting because then I find all sorts of exciting changes!

@daninthedirt, This is a screen shot of our historical average temps. I must explain that it's really for the town below us. We are in a microclimate here, so a little cooler in summer and a little warmer in winter EXCEPT for random heat waves and snow flurries! It's not entirely accurate. The lows are really around 68-72, and highs around 95-105. Still, the tomatoes seem to be ok with it.

My compost volunteers ALL came from the grocery store so they have to be hybrids. This is our first year growing ONE tomato intentionally. We thought it would be a BIG Boy, but it's just a cherry. However it turns out we are growing 11 unintentionally, and the developing tomatoes are all bigger than any fruit on the cherry tomato plant. I'm sure I'll be looking for ripe soon, but I'm happy with green now. There is a hint of color change on some big ones hidden under the canopy of a salad type. Those might be the first to turn.

Oh, that's fine. As long as you have cool nighttime temps, the tomatoes will pollinate then. They just can't do it when it is hot. In general, the coolest time of the day is early morning, so that's why everyone says it has to get cool at night for tomatoes to set fruit. I gather that means that the "stickiness" of pollen is reversible.

Once they start to ripen I check daily. Now that the harvest is almost done I check every other day.