Snag wrote:
Went outta town for a few days , while we were gone the gkids and
their mom watered for me . A couple of my zucchini plants have an
unexplained wilting of leaves - and one has died , but it was weak to
begin with . I'm pretty sure they didn't water enough to let it soak
deep like I do , but most of the rest of my plants - and all the
cantalopes - are still doing well .
One thing , the plant that is wilting he most has a zuke about 6"
long growing . Can that increase the water required that much ? I
watered everything well yesterday , let the hose run slow and moved
it around until everything is deeply soaked . This morning the leaves
are still wilted ...

A few of possibilites. They have been allowed to dry out so much the leaf
tissue is permanently damaged. Nothing you can do about that but the new
leaves will be OK and the plant will recover after being set back.

Second the plant has root damage due to nematodes etc or root rot. It is
probably doomed. Third it has a fungal wilt on the leaves, this should be
visible, powdery mildew is common on cucurbits in humid summers, you can
spray if you want to.

David