I've got no idea as I've never grown them. However, I wonder if the husk is thin enough to where it's possible to candle them. You know, as one would candle an egg to see if the embryo is growing. At the very least it wouldn't hurt the plant at all and if it works you'll know for sure.

Rodney

Interesting idea Rodney :)

Most likely, yes, although occasionally empty husks are produced. You should be able to tell in a few days by gently feeling the husk for a pea-sized fruit.
My first batch of tomatillos always end up being undersized for some reason (i.e. they don't burst out of the husk), while later batches end up being normal.

Thanks for the info slimy. I am anxious to see if there is one in there lol. I will feel it gently in a few days. :)

I would say, once you have a husk it has been pollinated and yes, a tomatillo is growing inside it.
In flower stage it is hard to tell but a strong stem connecting the expired flower to the branch is good indication that it will make it.

Mine has just three flowers, with weak stems. I am not holding my breath ! I can pretty much tell ahead time if a flower is going to make it or not.

Tomatillo flowers must be pollinated with pollen from a different tomatillo plant. (Not a different variety of tomatillo -- as with apples -- but simply a second tomatillo plant.)

So if you have only one plant, hope for a wandering bee who's been visiting a neighbor's tomatillo....

missingtheobvious, I have three plants :) Luckily I had researched growing tomatillos enough before growing that I knew I needed more than one plant for pollination.
So I was able to carefully lift up the stem that the husk is on and peek through the bottom and lo and behold there is a perfectly formed tomatillo inside!
I also noticed several other husks forming on this plant.
Giddy. :)

Well, my reply was going to be simply this smiley:

8-D

However, GW's software rejected that (repeatedly), and told me each time:

Message Rejected

You must provide a name, email address, subject and a message.

Now, I spose I can understand that the software might not be able to understand that a smiley can be a message, but there certainly was a subject -- and what's with the requirement for a "name" and "email address"?

Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on
Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 9:34

Tomatillo flowers must be pollinated with pollen from a different tomatillo plant. (Not a different variety of tomatillo -- as with apples -- but simply a second tomatillo plant.)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
That is debatable, least to say.
I have grown single tomatillo, successfully, more than once.
I am growing just ONE again this year but it is too early here to show results..

It s possible that more than one plant CAN AIDE in pollination(like corn) but to suggest that there are male and female plants, is inaccurate because when you have 2 or 3 plants they all bear fruits.

I agree seysonn, I have grown one plant many times also and they produced.

My reason for only having one plant sometimes is because I don't use many tomatillo's and one plant is more than enough.

I've grown just one plant and it produced a lot of fruit.
it also got huge and took up a lot of space.

Have fun with your harvest!. My personal preference is to wait until the husk dries and they split the bottom and/or drop from the plant for harvest. They get sweeter then. The tomatillo will be sticky once you remove the husk-soak them in warm water with veggie cleaner or vinegar will help remove.

Just harvested my first tomatillo from the one pictured when I started this thread. I know the husk should be left on until it's used but my three year old insisted on removing it. Lol.
Does it look ripe to you? I wasn't sure on when to harvest so I Googled and read they are best when harvested bright green.

It looks great. They get kind of sticky when you pull the husk off. What are you going to do with it?

Mine are still a few weeks away.

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden blog

Not sure I don't have enough ripe right now to really do anything with. Lol

They should last a while in the fridge!

Yup, that's the perfect stage to pick them. They are mature but not ripe.

Dark green (immature) ones tend to be a little bitter.

If you let them ripen to yellow, they get mildly sweet but also lose a lot of flavor.