[Marcella]

I can't do worms - I don't care how great worms are - I can't do worms. When fishing, if husband wanted us to use worms instead of neat lures for some reason, it was his job to “fix” a worm on my fishing rod. If you insist on worms, you will have to come here and start them and never leave here, ‘cause I can't do worms.

To the rest of you: I'm bound to have some type of cucumbers because I have so many kinds to try to grow. I still don't know what to use on them to keep bugs/insects/creepy crawly things off of them even though they will be in containers. Maybe I can keep all the cucumber contains on the deck instead of sitting on top of the ground, however, from the way some of you talk (especially greeneyes), I think I'm sunk unless I know what to use on them BEFORE the infestation starts. WHAT IS SAFE TO PUT ON CUCUMBER PLANTS AND THEN THE CUCUMBERS WHEN THEY BEGIN TO GROW. I WANT TO STOP THE INFESTATION BEFORE IT STARTS, IF THAT IS POSSIBLE??

I have two spray bottles of Neem Oil if you think that might work without killing the plants?? I will get whatever spray or dust or whatever works but is still organic - I don't want chemical crap on the plants/veggie.

By the way, I pulled all the baby carrots up from the container and those I can grow, they are fine. I pulled all the turnip greens and the greens are fine but the turnips were small, undersized, and not worth the work and time to protect them in this cold weather, so no more turnips in containers. Will grow baby carrots and no turnips from now on.

Now, could someone put me on the trail of something to protect the cucumbers from being murdered?

[Marcella]

“contains” should be “containers”. Tried to fix that and hit the post button instead.

[ApplegateRanch]

Diatomaceous earth sprinkled on/around them does wonders for doing in unwanted critters.

Some others have home made “magic solutions” they spray on the plants.

Johnny probably just spits tobacco juice in their eyes, but that takes a lot of practice to master.

[HopeandGlory]

Hello Marcella . . . You might check out “B.t.” aka “Bacillus thuringiensis,” for natural control of caterpillars.

[Black Agnes]

You don’t need to protect turnips in your area. We’ve had them planted outside in the lower part of our property since last September. They did spectacularly until we had the night it got down to 10F on my back porch. It was probably 7 or 8F or cooler in the turnip spot. It got down to 8F on my back porch several weeks later and may have been down to 5F in the garden.

They’re still mostly green but their tips look kind of singed. Definitely still alive though. Not terribly happy about it though!

Here’s a list of veg and hardy temps:

http://www.southernexposure.com/southern-exposures-fallwinter-gardening-guide-ezp-38.html

[Silentgypsy]

Did I ever mention food-grade diatomaceous earth? It works pretty well on crawly things.

[greeneyes]

Neem oil works for some stuff, but don't put too much as it can kill the plants. There should be directions on the container to use.

I just plain ole water to spray off stuff, and then after they dry a little I use a homemade brew to spray them with. I pick off tomato horn-worms by hand. I put beer in tuna cans sunk into the soil for slugs.

Take I head of garlic, smashed and 1 onion chopped and put into a quart jar. Put in a Tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Fill it with nearly boiling water and let it sit for 24 hours.

Strain the mixture and put into a spray bottle. Add a drop or two of dish-washing liquid and cooking oil or neem oil. Spray the plants as needed. If it rains you will have to respray.

My organic gardening books all say that if the soil is right, the bugs won't infest the whole garden. I also stagger my plantings. Some times the winter crop is planted because it helps to fight bugs that might hurt the spring crop, and of course I practice rotation planting.