Do you have cucumber beetles?

Maybe a gopher ate the roots. The sudden wilt is exactly what I would expect in that case. You will be able to tell for sure if you pull the plant and check the roots. If there are few or none, it is a gopher. You can dig a hole and try to find the tunnel it used to get to the roots. Since you caught it right away, there is a good chance it will come back through that same tunnel to eat more, so setting a trap right away may pay off. The tunnels can be hard to find. just dig a hole straight down where the plant was, and gently probe the sides of the hole with fingers to find the tunnel.

From the picture, it seems you use a wood edged raised bed. Is the bottom gopher proofed, and if so, how? I staple half-inch hardware cloth to the wood frame. This works well, but it is not really something that can be retrofitted. (You would have to dig up the whole bed...

--McKenzie

I find sudden wilts to be the bane of many vine crops...disease.

I do have cucumber beetles but have been picking them quite often and their numbers seem less, but yes that could be it.

Mckenzi, it's kind of a raised bed but definitely not gopher proof. I've had gopher issues in years past but only with young seedlings not fully matured plants.

This is just from too much water!!! I promise this has happened to me and I lost 5 of 6 plants cause I thought they needed water when it was just the opposite. I was so concerned about losing my plants I went to a nursery in my area and talked to the owner there. he said that when cucumbers get to much water they will wilt, and most people think they need water and give them more and wind up killing their plants. Just let them dry out and they will bounce back.

I vote for bacterial wilt spread by the cucumber beetles.

I could never, ever have any cucs if I didn't plant "County Fair" cucumber. Its about the only variety that is bitter-free and doesn't attract those little cuc beetle monsters. One year Park seed must have sent me the wrong seeds, because they got the cuc beetles and wilt. This year, we're doing good. (Knock on wood!).
Sorry if you lose your cucs. Its about my favorite veggie that I grow.

okay here is what's going on. Late yesterday the wilted leaves recovered but this morning they were wilted again, but this new picture is today a few minutes ago and they have again recovered. Temps are pleasant around 80 so shouldn't be stressed. Does pattern still point toward the cucumber beetle, or as tollgirl said it could it be over wet. By why night wilt and day recovery???

{{gwi:86516}}

I wonder WHY they wilt at night ! ! ! It is normal to wilt during a hot day, even when the plants are watered, but at night ?

I also think gopher, mole or other creatures are underneath.
I would look closely and if found a hole, just flood it.

You can do the sticky sap test to see if bacterial wilt is involved. Bacterial wilt is more likely to affect the vines and branches unevenly, but within a week or less, it will be evident on at least some vines.

Another possibility: sudden wilt. This tends more to affect the entire crop at once.

This post was edited by ltilton on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 16:31

When I have had wilt, it doesn't perk up again. Your soil doesn't look too wet.
Can you light tamp on the soil and see if it has been lifted up by an animal?
Mine wilt in the daytime if its hot. Curious. You could try putting some poles down in the soil, to maybe discourage anyone digging tunnels.
I use those daisy pinwheels to discourage moles.....but you have to be careful they don't rip up the foliage when the wind gets going.

doesn't seem to be any soft soil or evidence that animals are digging from top or bottom. But if it were animals the plant wilting wouldn't come twice or even once would it?

meant to say the wilting wouldn't come back twice or even once would it?

In my experience with gophers, the wilt is terminal. By the time you see it, the plant is toast. In fact, most of the root system will be gone already, and you can usually pull the plant up with kind of a light tug. I've also seen them eat vines that are lying on the ground, killing everything downstream from there (with watermelons and pumpkins).

So I guess I no longer suspect gophers in your case. However, if the plant does die, you should dig it up and check the root structure. If the roots are missing, then check for tunnels. Gophers can tunnel in from 20, 30 40 feet away and leave no signs in the immediate vicinity.

I think it is something that underneath and it is a creature. Could be mole looking for grubs. Gophers and moles are active when there is nobody around.
Don't forget that cucumber has also lateral roots going on all direction and is not limited to just a single tap root. So it is possible that gopher ate some of it and gave the plant shocks and went away.

In the early stages of bacterial wilt my plants acted the same as yours - wilt, then perk up like they might pull through, then wilt again. If this is your problem, soon enough they will wilt and not perk up, then start to yellow and die. Hope your issue is different.

I was never able to get the sap test to work, but I have not had the problem since I switched to County Fair F1 as mentioned above. (I also tried Diva but prefer the county fair even for slicing.)