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Tomato Leaves, disease or bugs? #935504

Asked June 14, 2026, 11:02 PM EDT

Attached are pictures of tomato leaves from our garden. The whitish dots all over the leaves do not appear to be a fungus, but rather created by a bug. When we look at pictures of leaves damaged by flea beetles it looks similar, BUT we have not seen any bugs on the leaves! We are hoping you can identify the problem and offer a remedy.The leaves on all six tomato plants are affected. Thank you for your assistance.

Clackamas County Oregon

Expert Response

Hi Patti and thanks for your pictures of your tomato plant leaves. I can rule out flea beetles, as they leave holes and not just whitish spots. My first inclination is that this looks like hail damage. Some of the leaves are torn and the white spots are "bruises". If you notice the white spots on the leaves are kind of directional, showing which way the hail arrived from. Obviously there is not much you can do about that now, but just keep the plants healthy and they should be fine.

Another option is spider mites, they leave this stippled look and are very tiny. Look for webbing, especially on the undersides of the leaves. If you find this, mites can be hosed from plants with a strong stream of water. Excessive nitrogen fertilization may cause population buildup.

Since all the plants are affected, I'm going to guess it is the hail 
issue and recommend you do nothing as the leaves will be fine. Keep the plants watered deeply but not too often and if further symptoms develop, send more pictures.
Good luck,
Rhonda Frick-Wright Replied June 15, 2026, 7:41 PM EDT
Thank you so much for the info. 

On Mon, Jun 15, 2026, 4:41 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied June 16, 2026, 12:10 AM EDT

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