For the large pot, driveway edge indeterminate plants - of which I have 23 planted - 18 plants have set fruit. Three have open flowers, and two have buds. The stragglers in fruit set are Lucky Cross, Little Lucky, and Henderson Bicolor. The latter got a late start, the two former (4 plants total) didn't have well developed initial blossom clusters - so the initial fruit set will be well up the plant.
For the indeterminate varieties planted in small pots and due for an extreme prune once they set fruit - there are 46 of these planted on May 7 that I will report on. An additional 14 were planted at the end of May, so it is too soon for fruit set.
Anyway - of the 46 plants, 21 of them have set fruit - meaning I need to go and top them soon so as to not end up with plants too big for the pots! The aim of this is to get one or two clusters to set - just enough to taste and save seed from. Another 16 have open blossoms, 8 have buds and are a bit behind, and one - Casey's Pure Yellow - is ill with something and may have to be tossed.
Now for the Dwarfs: Of the 23 planted in white 5 gallon grow bags between the large pot indeterminate varieties - which are the most advanced in terms of generation - 11 have set fruit, and the other 12 have open flowers. Tasmanian Chocolate and Sarandipity, and perhaps Perth Pride, are likely to be the first to ripen. The larger fruited varieties in the Sneezy family, such as Summertime Green, Summertime Gold, Dwarf Mr. Snow and Dwarf Emerald Giant, will probably be the latest to ripen.
For the middle driveway Dwarf varieties: Of the 43 plants, 13 have set fruit, 25 have open flowers, 4 have buds and one (Summertime Green) is a replacement plant that is a bit behind the others. It is too soon to generalize on relative ripening dates.
So - grand total of 63 varieties are setting fruit well, and there is very, very little sign of trouble (meaning ugly foliage indicative of some sort of disease).
Aside from tomatoes, a few of the eggplant have open blossoms and others have buds, some sweet peppers and hot peppers are already setting fruit. Though the dryness and heat can make it difficult to spend much time outside tending the garden, things look really, really good at this point.
Another thing I've done this year with the Dwarfs is to NOT group them in 3s and 4s, meaning each plant is having plenty of air circulation around the entire plant. Combine that fact with the dry conditions and it explains well the relative health of the foliage.
I just went out to photograph some of the developing dwarf fruit - see below
Next row down: Loxton Lass, Rose Mallee, Rosella Purple
Then: Shazka, Shellby's Purple, Tasmanian Chocolate
Last row: Tasty Brown, TastyWine, Uluru Ochre
And this is just the beginning!