Well, you will get tomatoes, but don't expect to get full-sized ones. As noted, you need bigger pots to avoid stressing the plants, especially when fruiting. Continue fertilizing, according to instructions. Keep soil moist, an inch deep. The plants will get heavier with fruit on them, so those little support sticks may not do the trick.

That being said, you will see tomatoes within a week of getting flowers. That's just what they do. I would eat them when they turn red. Unless you like green tomatoes.

This year for me the time between first bloom and first visible fruit on any given plant is between 19 and 26 days

Probably some better support would be good. Otherwise continue fertilizing, watering, etc. And next year maybe start them a bit earlier if weather allows.

I was talking about "edible" fruit in 45 days :)

Linda

I know. I was replying to "you will see tomatoes within a week of getting flowers". I don't have any edible fruit yet, and it's been about 45 days since my first flowers. Looks like it will be another week or two.

So the flowers are falling off without turning into tomatoes? That's another problem entirely.

Yes, some. I had an aphid problem, though, which is gone now, so will see if there is improvement on that front.

I think the confusion here is that dan's original "within a week" comment probably meant that you'll notice that fruit has set, i.e., little nubs of fruit are forming, at around a week or so after flowers have opened. For fruit to grow to maturity and ripen, OTOH, will take somewhere between a month to a month and a half, depending on variety and size. Not even the smallest currant tomatoes will give you edible, ripe fruit a week or two after blooming.

daninthedirt: I would eat them when they turn red. Unless you like green tomatoes.

Only wait for tomatoes to turn red if they're red varieties ;)

There are many other colors: green-when-ripe, pink, black (dark dusky pink/purplish/maroon), brown (brick red, brownish red, dusky brownish pink), blue (dark purple/black), yellow, gold, orange, pink, striped/multicolor, white, etc. etc.

And there are differing degrees of "red" even with red tomatoes. Try them at different degrees of ripeness, as different varieties will reach peak flavor at different points. Plus, we all have our individual preferences. Some people like some varieties when they're slightly underripe, others like other varieties when they're verging on overripe. It really depends. Some longer keeping varieties can be fully red but still kind of hard and unpleasant. Go by both feel and color and take into account what you know about the variety, e.g., some varieties are just harder and tougher when ripe, others more buttery and luscious.

Well, if the flowers are destined to fall off, you won't see any tomatoes from them. They could be falling off because of an insect problem, because the temperatures are too high to set fruit (over 85F in the daytime, over 75F at night), or because of insufficient light or water. I don't see evidence of the latter two in your pictures.

You asked "When will I see tomatoes?" You will first see them when they emerge from behind the flower. "When will I see *ripe* tomatoes?" is a different question.

I kinda like green tomatoes even if they are red varieties. You develop a taste for that at the end of the fall season.

I got the impression that Boris is just talking about a normal amount of blossom drop for this time of year. Where he is, which is similar to where I am, there are some hot days over 90, getting into mid and even high 90s, which will cause some blossom drop. Unlike climes further south, we don't normally get very extended periods at those temps, though, so we do get fairly steady continued fruit set even during July and August, which are our warmest months. Pretty sure he knows that a blossom that drops off entirely is not going to become fruit. It seems to me the confusion was about when to expect signs of fruit forming vs. when to expect ripe fruit.

And I like green tomatoes, too. I love them as pickles, and I also like them fried in the traditional manner. They're great oven-roasted, too, until they start to brown and caramelize a bit. Those are good marinated in olive oil with herbs and garlic and served on crusty bread or tossed with pasta.

You people are amazing, im grateful for the responses thank you.

So far I got that:

next year, I need bigger sticks and bigger pots.

This year, can tie them to the fence. Fruits will start about a week after flowering and ripen in about 4-6weeks.

Great learning curve, thanks again

Good luck with your plants!

Be sure to watch for wilting and be prepared to water them twice a day if it gets really hot. You could add a little potting mix so that they are almost full to one inch of the top, and add some mulch to slow down evaporation. Bark chips or grass clippings would work for that.

Linda

Sorry, it wasn't immediately evident that Boris wasn't the OP.

You can start your seeds earlier next year, too. On average, most people start their seeds indoors under lights about 6 weeks before their average last frost date. You can do it as early as 8 weeks before and as late as 4 weeks before.

For Brooklyn, I'd start seeds between mid-March and May 1 at the latest. LFD is usually third week of April or so, IIRC, and you'd be looking to start hardening off right about then for plant-out a couple weeks after that. You can try to harden off and plant out earlier if you have cover in case of late frost or can bring the plants in if temps drop too low.

[EDITED to clarify seed start windows]

You mention that you used vegetable soil, I'm not sure what that is specifically, however just to clarify that it is vitally important to use a quality potting mix that is for container use, it should say this on the label. Yes bigger containers next time for best results.