Another picture:

Plant is healthier now but this is just to give an idea of the container and number of plants in the pot.

I believe the white stuff is mealy bugs. I've never had mealies on tomatoes, but apparently they can infest tomatoes. And mealies would explain the aphids.

Your plants are unhappy at least partially because the mealies and the aphids are literally sucking the life out of the plants.

My only experience with mealy bugs was on a succulent last fall. (It was recently purchased, and none of the other plants were bothered, so I'm assuming the mealies came from the vendor.)

When I had the succulent problem, I saw online that I could use the same spray I keep on hand for the pine sawfly larvae which denude my mugo pines: equal parts of water and isopropyl alcohol, with a squirt of mild dish soap as a sticker. (I've only used that spray on the mugo pines and the succulent: I don't know if it would damage tomato plants. Maybe test one plant to make sure the alcohol isn't too harsh for the plant.)

But if you can use that spray on tomatoes, it should take care of the aphids as well.

Soak all the areas where you see the white. (You can also wipe them off, but you should still spray.) Check every few days till you're sure they aren't returning.

Your "water dishes" can be referred to as "saucers." Be sure to drain them so your plants aren't standing in water.

To what strength are you diluting the Miracle Grow you're using?

When the plants are healthier, I'd leave the healthiest 2 in the pot (maybe 3: those are huge pots!) and cut the others off at the soil line.

Thanks for the reply! I normally get about a tablespoon of miracle grow in my watering can, fill it up and spread it proportionally to all my plants once a week. Not sure if its too little. I will make sure to pour out the excess water out of my saucers today and will try to remove the little bugs manually while i concoct a solution to spray.

Glad to help, crist95.

I'm hoping someone with more info than I have will speak up about the Miracle Grow; I don't know if it's likely to be too little or too much. How much does your watering can hold?

My watering can is 2 gallons. I've decided to introduce some lady bugs for a week or two before doing the soapy solution. Any comments on their potential effectiveness on a balcony container garden?

I've heard that ladybirds will simply fly away!

I had mealy bugs in my garden last year. Before that, I always thought they only attacked houseplants "LOL>. They were all over my hostas, and they infected two of my 21 tomato plants. I managed them by picking them off and my plants survived and produced fruit. I was amazed that they confined themselves to only two plants!

I'd be careful of the miracle grow. If your potting soil also contains fertilizer, you could possibly be giving them too much, and over-fertilized plants can be a magnet to insects in much the same way as weak/sick ones are.

Good luck!
Linda

Thank you Linda,

The soil that I am fertilizing had been around since July before i started fertilizing in December. While I've noticed the mealys before the fertilization, my plants do look much livelier after I started fertilizing. The problem is that it is fruiting time and just when I thought I was going to begin reaping, the mealies/aphids got a little greedy.

So Ive been introducing the lady birds little by little in the evenings to have them tag along a while. They leave come daytime but maybe theyll lay eggs. Im wondering if my sweet 100s look healthy from this picture taken today. In my next picture my question is, can all aphids be eradicated or is a small amount of aphids ever normal?

Heres zooming into one of the few branches that I found with some aphids.

That plant looks good to me! Well done!

I would continue to remove any aphids that you see. The odd one isn't going to do too much harm, but they reproduce like rabbits so you will have to be very vigilant.

Good luck!
Linda

That's a great improvement in just a few days!

Do keep after the aphids, or they'll sneak up on you....

Thanks! As you can see I've introduced tomato cones because of the thin stems falling to the sides. I will keep monitoring for aphids. Maybe one of these days I'll get something edible too!

UPDATE: These guys are growing BIG! Yet the bounty isn't exactly great. They seem to be taking forever to turn red. Fighting mealyworms with water/soap. Is there ANY way to stunt the growth of the plant w/o hurting it?

Another picture...

I always seem to get bugs and diseases when I buy transplants. The only ones that were without both I bought at the high school Ag. center. I try to remember to look underneath the leaves before I buy any plant. I'm amazed at how many have bugs on them. Your plants look so much better!