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I am growing tomatoes from seed and according to the packet they should be 16oz sized fruit. However, they are ripening much earlier then that and I am getting infant sized tomatoes compared to 16oz as the seed packet states.

is this normal for the fruit to ripen smaller? or is there any way to get the tomatoes bigger before they ripen? any tips would be great. I hope I explained my problem well.

What variety is it? Generally a 1 lb variety will have fruits ranging from 8-10 oz up to a pound for the big ones, but you will occasionally get a much larger fruit. For me, first fruit of the season on a healthy plant is often the largest of the year for a number of reasons, however if there is a single extra early fruit on a plant it might be down at the lower end. But, unhappy plants will often produce smaller fruits.


A 1 lb fruit is geneally a beefsteak variety, with seed locules scattered through out the flesh. Smaller varieties generally have larger locules around the periphery like a wagon wheel. This is genetic so if your small fruit is not a beefsteak I would suspect that your seed was mismarked or you got a stray seed of a different variety in the pack.

All of the above is excellent advice. I might just add to get your tomatoes up as close to their optimum as you can (assuming it really is the variety it says it is), you need optimum watering and soil fertility.