Vibrate the flowers for several seconds with your finger or a soft brush. Once fruits set, remove all but five per cluster to obtain uniform production and ripening. Tomatoes need about three months from seeding to first harvest, cucumbers about two months. The plants will grow for up to a year but become less productive with age and therefore should be replanted after six months. Each plant within this period can yield 20 pounds or more of fruit, while cucumbers should produce two or three fruits per week during their harvesting period.
Peppers take longer to mature and produce fewer fruit than tomatoes.
Butterhead-type lettuce such as 'Bibb' is ready to harvest 35 to 40 days from transplanting, about the same time as for leaf lettuces. You can also cut them at less than half that age to use with herbs and small-leaved vegetables in a mesclun mix. Harvest herbs regularly as soon as they have enough leaves that their growth won't be set back by picking. Pinch off any flowers that form on mint or basil to keep the plants vegetative. Prune back any woody stems that develop, especially on basil.