Is my tomato plant infested or pollinated?

[swd12422]

Total newbie question here... My entire garden consists of one little tomato plant so far.... And it only has one little tomato on it....

I went to check my tomato this afternoon and noticed that it has new growth on top and more flowers!

I also noticed that I might need to add some mulch or compost to the pot b/c the soil seems low, and then realized that there are TONS of tiny black fly-looking things all over the soil and the plant. We have a few in the house too, around our plants. The leaves on the tomato plant have lots of holes in them, but the tomato itself is untouched. Is my plant being eaten alive, or are holey leaves okay as long as the plant is still growing and flowering?

[FarmerCathy]

Is it aphids. If it is you can hose the plant down and get them off. Tomato plants really don't liked to be hosed off, but you can probably do it carefully after the sun goes down at night.

[swd12422]

I thought aphids were white? (But again, I'm a total newbie who knows next to NOTHING!)

These are barely 1 mm big, black with clear wings. They half fly, half jump, but they're not as jumpy as fleas (with what limited experience I've had with fleas...) They are attracted to the water in the house, like around the kitchen sink, and when I went to wipe down the sink yesterday, several had drowned themselves in the little puddle under the sponge. (EW...)

I checked the whole plant, undersides of the leaves, etc. There doesn't appear to be anything stuck to the leaves, so I have no idea what's eating them. I didn't see any wormy-looking things or anything else, just the black bugs. I will try spraying tonight to see if that helps... I just didn't want to oust the beneficial bugs if that's what they are.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

It could be root flies ( don't know technical name) but there are gnats that live in dirt & eat roots...try treating the ground with some soapy warm water or give a good dusting of diatomaceaous earth.

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

It could be root flies ( don't know technical name) but there are gnats that live in dirt & eat roots...try treating the ground with some soapy warm water or give a good dusting of diatomaceaous earth.

I totally didn't think of that. yeah, DE is great. Here are some pics, white and black and some with wings.

http://www.google.com/images?q=aphid...w=1152&bih=557

Could be root flies too. They sound annoying. Hope you can clear them up soon.

[swd12422]

After more research, they indeed are black fungus gnats. They are all over! I figured out they came in with the last bag of potting soil I bought and used to repot several plants. ARGH! Going out to get some DE. How long should it take? And should I sprinkle some in my compost bin too? (They're in there!) Or will that also kill off anything else that might be helping the composting process?

[HappyMommy2]

The guy at Home Depot told me these were soil gnats, and that if you put a quarter-inch of sand covering the soil, they cannot lay their eggs in it.

Just bought the sand today to try it... although mine are in containers. Those little buggers are spreading around to all my houseplants! I think it was from a certain bag or organic soil I bought.