My cucumber plants are dying

[Elliot]

Its now August 34th and my cucumber plants, were produced enough cucumbers for us and six enighbors are dying. I heard that cucumber plants have a short life span. Is there any way to keep them going longer?

[Tania]

When did you start them?

I started mine on April 1, transplanted in mid May, and they are still growing and producing like crazy. I get a 5 gal bucket of cukes from my GH two days out of three.

Cucumber plants usually stop producing when there is at least one mature cucumber handing on the vines with maturing seeds. If you keep picking the young fruit, the plant should keep going.

[Elliot]

this might be my fault. I missed some really big cukes.

[tjg911]

sounds like another case of bacterial wilt. this is the time mine would die.

are the plants wilting? cut a vine and touch the 2 ends together, if you get long stringy stuff when you pull them apart that's BW.

you can either grow under floating row covers to keep cuke beetles away from the plants, spray with toxic pesticides or grow BW resistant varieties. i go the last route, county fair has been the only cuke i grow now for a few seasons and they do fine. while a pickler, they are a good slicer. i peel the skins as they are a bit bitter and tough.

tom