Oh gosh, but it's early in the season yet to be worried about ultimate height. You're only a little over two weeks past last frost date and have months and months of growing season left. Bush Champion stays really short, maybe 24" and you may not need a cage for it at that size. It's very NORMAL to have tiny fruits on a plant not yet ripping and growing. It's not going to make your plant zoom up to pinch off the fruit. It'll grow when it's ready given adequate water and nutrients and warmth.

More likely it just needs to be transplanted to a bigger pot. Those ones they sell them in are too small to last for long.

But no I sure wouldn't pick off the fruit. Have you fed it?

Dave

Thanks. I felt kind of stupid even asking, but I've never grown this particular plant before and i just wasn't sure. The cherry tomato I bought at the same time is much bigger, so I was wondering. I didn't buy it in a "patio tomato" gallon pot, but in one of those quart peat pots and I have replanted it in a much larger container so I'm sure that's fine. Now that I know it stays little, I'm not concerned. Probably time for some Miracle Grow. Thanks again.

I am new to gardening, this is my third year...I just now figured out how to pick off the "suckers" on tomato plants. Mine haven't done that great in the past...this year I am on top of picking the suckers off and then main stalk is super healthy and strong and I have tons and tons of green tomatoes. I'm convinced this simple thing has bumped my crop majorly. So, do that haha!

I just found the tag to my tomatoes and it isn't bush champion, it's Better Boy Bush Hybrid. Don't know if that makes a difference.

I just now figured out how to pick off the "suckers" on tomato plants. Mine haven't done that great in the past...this year I am on top of picking the suckers off and then main stalk is super healthy and strong and I have tons and tons of green tomatoes. I'm convinced this simple thing has bumped my crop majorly. So, do that haha!

Please don't. Not without knowing what you are doing first. Removing what some call "suckers", what are actually fruit producing lateral branches, is purely optional and reduces production rather than increasing it. And determinate and bush varieties - what we are discussing here - are never pruned.

You can find much more info on all this over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here. There is even a FAQ on this issue.

Dave

I'm familiar with Beter Bush hybrids, but not Better Boy Bush. If it's Better Bush hybrid, what you have is an ISI indeterminate. I've grown those and they are a neat tomato. ISI means indeterminate short internode. The distance from one internode (where the branches pop out) to the next is grossly shorter than the regular variety. If this is what you have, you're in for a pleasant surprise. I've had fruits on them so profusely, you can't get your fingers around them to twist them off.

Even if your plant is short, is it healthy looking? Is the main stalk of the plant nice and full and not spindly looking? If it is, I still don't think you need to do anything other than provide it with the proper sized pot, good watering and sunshine, and a bit of plant food on occasion if it's in a container with artificial potting mix. How long have you been growing it on? Potted tomatoes in the greenhouse usually come in to flower earlier than their counterparts outside and are often ready for sale with tiny tomatoes on them.

Okay...I'm at work now, but I'll look at the tag again when I get home. I'm 99% sure it said "Better Boy Bush Hybrid" and it was from WalMart. It did come with some tiny tomatoes, they're way down low on the stalk, low enough I couldn't plant deep, the way I usually do when I plant tomatoes. In fact, one is now sitting on the potting soil. They are growing in clusters of 2-3. It looks extremely healthy, short, stocky, a very thick center stalk and good color. I think I planted it 2-3 weeks ago is all. And now that I type that, I feel even sillier...seems longer. I think the reason I was wondering was I bought a cherry tomato at the same time that was the same size, both say they are determinate and the cherry has been caged, but the bush hasn't gotten much bigger than it was. (Same soil/light/etc.) I remember reading once that if something was flowering it wasn't putting the energy into growing, so...you get the idea. Like I said, seems like a stupid question now, but I appreciate the responses.

Yeah, I was wrong. It is a Better Bush. Which is good, because now I know what's what! Here's a picture of it, and one showing how big my Husky Cherry Red tomato looks. I planted the cherry in a much smaller pot, since it said container and the Better bush didn't.
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Just so you know, the husky cherries get pretty damn big, mine usually get 6ft tall, so just because they produce smaller toms, doesn't mean the plant stays small :)

Well shucks howelbama. The tag said good for containers! That's what I get for buying without researching. It's not in a very big pot, so I guess we'll see how that goes. Thanks for the heads up.

The standard size huskies don't get that tall, usually well contained in a cheap cage and I have grown them without the benefit of cages or support. I have Husky growing this year. It's another ISI bred tomato. I'd expect it to be about the same size at maturity as the better bush. Both of your pots are rather small for how big these tomatoes are going to get.

The pot the Better Bush is in is as large as a 5 gallon bucket. Doesn't look very big in the photo, but it is really quite large. I've grown tomatoes in that size before. The other is much smaller, because I thought I got a tomato that was going to stay small. Maybe 2 1/2 gallon? I do have a bucket I can move it to...Is it even possible to move them at this size? It also is starting to set fruit.