I have 3 pumpkin vines which were being eaten by a groundhog. When I finally managed the groundhog, they were infested by cucumber beetles, and too far along with bacterial wilt to do anything about it.

In between two of the pumpkin vines I have some watermelon plants growing. It's my understanding that cucumber beetles will eat them a little, but they will not be affected by the bacteria that destroyed my pumpkin plants.

I also have cucumbers about 100 feet away. I haven't seen any cucumber beetles on those, but they sure look like they are suffering from bacterial wilt to me. But, they are still producing a few cucumbers.

I'm wondering if I should yank the diseased pumpkin plants out and destroy them now or wait until after the growing season is over. Maybe removing them now would cause the beetles to overwhelm the watermelons, or maybe it would help reduce the problem next year.

Also, do my watermelons and cucumbers look like they have additional problems (maybe powdery mildew?)?

Here is a link that might be useful: pertinent pictures