He didn't get such an awesome start, because he remained unplanted in his little tiny cell for a couple of weeks until I had time to make space in the raised garden. Finally, he was tucked in and watered and fertilized. He grew big and bushy - the biggest and bushiest of all of my tomato plants, for a while. But he had no fruit! None! All of my smaller, scragglier plants had fruit, but not Mr. Stripey.
After a search of the Internet, I wondered if I was going to have to manually...er...pollinate him. Supposedly, electric toothbrushes held against the back of a flowering stem help with this. Going the low-tech route, I decided to just shake the branches a little.
I guess it worked, because a few weeks later, I had fruit! Small, green fruit. Which grew into larger, green fruit.
Finally, after being on vacation one week (and sick the next) - which meant no obsessively checking the garden - I saw a glimpse of yellowish orange in Mr. Stripey's direction. Closer inspection revealed a ripening tomato! SUCCESS!
Here it is, in all its glory. My first Mr. Stripey, from my seedling planted 5/13, picked 8/5. I haven't tasted it yet, but it sure is pretty!
