Growing my first tomatoes

[teebeebutler]

Hello

I am new to the forum and I hope you can help me to insure I get some lovely tomatoes.

I planted Roma Tomato V.F. Seeds
Currently they are approx 13 inches (33cm) high
They are in a container that is 6 inches (15.5cm) deep and 7 inches (18cm) wide (So 4 plants in a container each)

I live in Barcelona Spain and I have noticed that when the sun moves around to my balcony that the leafs wilted.

So my questions are the following:
Are my pots too small?
Should I keep them in the shade? I was thinking that maybe it is the severe shock of the sun, what if I put up a wood trellis which will let in less direct sunlight?
Should I cut off the lower branches to encourage it to grow higher?
When should I expect fruit?

Thank you so much for all your help

[hendi_alex]

At 13 inches tall, I would have each plant in a two liter pot. After two or three weeks would step the plants up to 8-12 liter pots, and would grow the mature plant in a 20 liter container. Tomatoes take a lot of water. In my opinion setting up a drip irrigation system is best for container grown tomato plants. During hot weather, especially if the plants are grown in full sun all day, I find that they need watering at least twice per day, even if grown in relatively large containers.

Tomatoes do best in full sun, though when in containers, I find that it is best to shade them from the late afternoon sun. I only prune my tomatoes enough to open the plant a bit to encourage air flow and discourage disease. If you have no problem with tomato diseases in your area, then there is little or no reason to prune the plants. Tomatoes are also heavy feeders, so you may want to use a slow release three or four month type of fertilizer to keep the plants happy.

Good luck.