My personal experience matches what Karen described above. One of the pleasures I seek in the new growing season is that very first ripe tomato. Of course other early milestones and objectives are desirable too, and we have various means to achieve them. But aiming for that first fruit is always a fun goal of mine, and for the past ~4 years, that came from plants that carried blossoms when they went in the ground. It doesn't matter if that plant never grows as big as expected, nor yields a lot of fruit -that's why we grow many others. If those early plants give me a few early fruits, they've done their job.
Ideal growing conditions are needed throughout: lots of light (intense and duration), large pot (1 gal), proper hardening, then set-out with minimal disruption. Once plant is established and a couple of blossoms are close to fruit set, I cull the others. The only thing I plan to do differently this year is to wait 1-2 weeks longer until the ground gets warmer.
We're talking full size fruit here, cherries don't count. Black Krim won for me 2 years in a row.
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