Try the Tomato Forum

Yes, they need sun & they thrive on heat.

Where do you live? I just planted my tomatoes in zone 6 . Tomatoes need heat and sun from the beginning and definately need room to grow. Borage gets huge and needs to be in a garden not a pot. Give your tomatoes some pots of their own go in and nip the growing tips , plant them deeper than they are and give them heat and sun and water and pray.

Los Angeles, but I live in an apartment where it's impossible to get enough sun for growing food. They aren't getting enough light, for sure, because when I went out last night to untangle them and try to set things, I realized they'd just been growing in this confused, tangled ball, not knowing which way is up. I think I'll take half and put them in their own pot outside, and put the other half inside under a grow light and see what happens.

Also...I think what I really need is a garden and not a pot. I'm pretending I have an entire yard when it's more like 20 cubic feet of shady indoor or outdoor space to garden.

Well I moved half inside and they're about dead somehow. I think that, when I uprooted them, I left them out in the heat too long, roots and all, while I was trying to situate the outdoor plant. As it is now, the outdoor plant is looking healthy, but a slow grower. I realized they are cherry and Rutger tomatoes, which are bush tomatoes, so the actual plant will get pretty big before they blossom, right? I could also transfer that Borage to a different pot and let the tomatoes breathe a little more.

Honestly, I think I may just set up pots in unused areas around the outside of the apartment building. There is so much space for stuff to grow, meanwhile I'm trying to rig up reflectors and lights and such for outdoor plants. I also have a few clever ideas for upside down bottle planters, but it might not be worth the effort.

I scrapped almost my entire indoor garden and I'm starting over, sprouting with little peat pods. I have some Campari and Roma variety seeds from store-bought tomatoes that I might try to sprout, and just stick the plants in various places around the apartment where they'll get sufficient light. I love having all the greenery in my apartment, but I just don't have the light for growing vegetables...I've gotten really good at growing fungus gnats instead, unfortunately.

Thank you for the tips, everyone! I'll always take more advice, too, if you have any to offer.

My first thought was that they were in too much shade also. Tomato plants sold in my area often have flowers in small sizes, I would if anything expect bush varieties to bloom smaller than natural habit (indeterminate) kinds.

More sun will help and not having the plants crowded gets more light to the remaining plants. When fertilizing young plants (up to 4 - 6” tall it’s good to use a high nitrogen fertilizer to get them going fast. Past that, the high N will only cause rank vine growth and impede flower initiation.