On Aug 20, 10:04 am, wrote:
Hi, I'm growing tomatoes on my apartment porch, got maybe a dozen
plants going not too bad. Got a severe problem with bugs and bacteria
pest because I recirculate excess water. Yup, the plant's saucer has
a little hole in it with a quarter inch barb and tube which leads to
an overflow collector. Half a day later I pour it back into the
plant's pot. Recirculate the excess water, bacteria, bugs, whatever.
Not the ideal situation to produce prize winning tomatoes, I fear, but
a step in the direction of water conservation, probably taken a
million times before.

This year is my first endeavor to raise tomatoes, and I'm pleased so
far. I'm in San Diego county California a bit east. My porch is
overhung on the north and west sides, so the tomatoes only get a few
hours of direct sunshine a day. No rain, so I water them twice daily,
and spray with tap water after dark. I also flood the pots with tap
water, so I get some overflow, which I use next watering.

Pests encountered so far include caterpillars, leaf eating bugs, and
something (bacteria?) which turns leaves and stems black in places.

Caterpillar/worms seem easily defeated by applications of Ortho Bug-Be-
Gone, but it must be replaced monthly.

The leaf eating bugs are not so easily defeated. A little Malathion
every other night slows them down a lot, but too heavy an application
seems to destroy the foliage. I reckon I'm using about a teaspoon of
Malathion per gallon of water now. First I heavily spray my victims
with straight tap water, then lightly spray them with the Malathion
solution. After a quarter hour, I again spray heavily with straight
tap water. Seems to reduce the damage, but my principal question at
the moment is what can be done to improve the results? Another
insecticide, or another proportion?

The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to
some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A
few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and
Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of
competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't
seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas?

Instead of applying so often and washing off you should leave the
poison on the plants so it can have a chance to kill.