tomatoes & insects...

morg_monster

bad combo or match made in heaven?

I have 5 micro-tom plants, 3 in a terracotta window box and two in their own pots. They were germinated indoors but since Easter and the freakishly warm weather have been out on the balcony day and night. THey have now stopped growing in height and are growing little buds which I assume are going to turn into tomatoes eventually! Well my question is... I have the odd few winged insects on them, just sitting around on the stems and leaves. They don't appear to be doing any damage. They are all greenfly-type, some green, some brown, some black. First I picked them off, but then my BF pointed out, maybe I need them to pollinate the flowers and produce fruit. So my question... should I be picking them off or letting them hang around? I live in SW London, in a block of flats overlooking a grassy area with lots of bushes and a few trees, so its not like we're overrun with friendly bees or anything, if they do need pollinating...
Thanks for your help!
PS I'm so excited by the tomatoes... its brilliant! I can't imagine how OTT I would be with a proper garden...

greyteam1959

Pick em all off double quick they will be up to no good sucking the sap and the life out of your lovely plants.
Bees etc will pollinate your plants but only when the flowers have appeared and opened and dont worry the bees will find your plants!!
If you want to pollinate the plants you can do it yourself......when the flowers are fully open on a nice warm day get a tiny paint ( or makeup brush !!) with fine bristles poke it into each flower centre in turn and hey presto you have done what a bee does.....pollinated your tomato plants

Jayar

Yep, totally agree with mervyn, funny thing is though, I always feel a bit pervy when I do this.:o

morg_monster

thanks guys, jayar I guess its like inseminating a cow though on a much smaller and less dangerous scale (not that I've done that). totally pervy!

quickstepqueen

I grow my toms inside a greenhouse and always plant a few marigolds in the same pot as this seems to help reduce the amount of bugs. Apparently they don't like the smell!

BlondeHeadOn

morg_monster wrote: »

thanks guys, jayar I guess its like inseminating a cow though on a much smaller and less dangerous scale (not that I've done that). totally pervy!

Not sure I'd fancy trying to inseminate a cow with a paint brush........... or at all, come to that!!

soba

I think I've got whitefly on my toms - the leaves are speckled with white bits, it looks a bit like tiny specks of cotton wool. I had to take some of the leaves off cos they had black speckles on, then a few days later I noticed these white specks. Do I need to treat it, and what with. Please, please, please don't tell me I've got to spay them with chemicals - I'd rather lose the toms than use a spray. Was hoping vinegar might be the answer I use it for everything else in the house!!
BTW they're tumbler toms growing in a tub - I grew some last year and they were fab, but I didn't have this problem.
I'm a virgin gardener, so any hints/tips gratefully accepted.
Thanks.

wurzelsar

There are a few tips ......... HERE .......... Predator insects can control the whitefly problem and last longer than a spray sloution. I would rub off the whitefly and keep an eye on it and continue rubbing them off if necessary.
Some people use a soapy water solution and spray the plants. I have never tried this so don't know how effective it is. Maybe someone else on mse will be able to advise on that.

I always do companion planting. I plant marigolds near the tomato plants and never have a problem with whitefly.

Joscar

If you do have whitefly, when you shake the plant you'll see them flying around the plant. I hang yellow sticky traps near my toms, the white fly is attracted to the colour but stay stuck to the trap - no chemicals to worry about.