Cucumber wilt, again...

We hardly knew ye, July 2018

Not that I'm an expert on cucumbers;  I think there was just one year I grew them and got a moderately good harvest--but this was ages ago, long before this blog.  Some years they simply get mowed down by slugs before they get over transplant shock, some years are just too cool/wet for their liking;  some years I don't even try growing them!  But this year, as well as last, my cucumbers have started growing like crazy, and barely after fruiting starts, so does the wilt.

See that mass of yellow, dried out stems to the front left?  Two plants behind still have some life left, but have stopped flowering, Aug 2018

It's not a water issue, despite the fact they're in planters on the patio rather than in garden soil;  they're watered regularly and I've checked the moisture in their pots:  fine.  I'm also growing in different planters this year--as well as a different variety.  However, it looks like my three sprawling vines which had so much potential, throwing out so many flowers and side shoots--have got the wilt, which is fatal.

I love cucumbers.  I hate to give them up, but space is limited, and I can't justify taking up that valuable space--indoors in spring, and in prime patio locations in summer--just to get a couple fruits off them.  I want something more reliably productive.

I don't know, will I give them one more shot next time?  Maybe planted out at the allotment next summer.