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up vote 11 down vote favorite

The bugs are exceptionally small. I've included a video here.

It may be related to the stretched and disfigured appearance of my tomatoes.

enter image description here

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Do they hop? Jump? Is there a cluster of them or do they go in singles? – Eight Days of Malaise Sep 5 '11 at 2:31
1  
The leaves look like the plant might have blight. Is this growing indoors or outdoors? Is it possible that they've been overwatered? If indoors, a lot of little bugs will fail when they're taken outdoors - a little wind, predators, direct sun - all may help. I don't know what the bugs are, but I suspect there are other things to fix first. – Ed Staub Sep 5 '11 at 14:59
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@yoda: It's stem side, so not BER, and probably not caused during flowering phase. Cracking is usually caused by growth rate fluctuations -- water/temperature/fertility changes. – bstpierre Sep 6 '11 at 14:23
@bstpierre Ah, thanks for the clarification! – Lorem Ipsum Sep 6 '11 at 14:29

2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

Looking at the video, it looks like a pretty typical whitefly. They aren't uncommon on tomatoes (or in your garden in general), and they typically do the most damage by transmitting disease.

UC Davis has a good summary page: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783301211.html

From my own personal experience, there are three things that can help. The first is your friendly ladybugs. You can buy thousands of lady bugs from your local garden center, or even online at Amazon. Release them at dusk, with moisture on the ground. They are far more likely to stick around if it is dark and cool, and they have something to drink.

Yellow sticky fly traps attract them a lot, and can help control the population. Put them really close to your plants. Whiteflies love the yellow traps, and you can quickly fill the trap all the way up.

There are also "trap" plants like Mint. I grow a small pot of mint a few yards away from my tomatoes, and the whiteflies just love it. They prefer it so much, they basically leave my tomatoes completely alone.

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up vote 5 down vote

Best guess based on the video is that you have some sort of aphid. Is it soft bodied? A close-up, in-focus photo of the insect would be helpful.

If they are aphids, you can knock them off with a spray of water, or spray with a dilute solution of soap (about 1 tablespoon of dish soap to a gallon of water).

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