Could you post pictures of the plants? There are many possible causes, most of them far more likely than any possible virus disease. But to be able to ID we'd need photos and much more information or a detailed description of the symptoms. No point in ripping them out until you know what the real cause is and the symptoms you describe so far could be nothing more than too much water. Dave

My understanding of Bacterial wilt is that the plant totally collapses in a fairly short time. Here is a link that might be useful: Bacterial wilt

Bruce I have had many problems growing tomatoes in ground. (Gainesville) I don't think I have had bacterial wilt, but one section of my garden will not let a tomato plant live to produce. They get to decent size then wilt overnight and die. My best luck so far (6th year gardening) has been with containers using new potting medium. MetroMix 500 has been best by far. Cheap stuff does not do so well. I have also had reasonable luck growing in bags of Black Kow. I did loose a Celebrity in a Black Kow bag over in the zone of death this year though (as well as every tomato and eggplant in ground there). The bags are raised above the ground by partially finished compost and insulated from the sun by more partially finished compost. All my compost starts in the fall from bagged leaves from the neighborhood, so none of my diseases have much chance to infiltrate it. My compost pile this year was a 15 foot diameter by three feet tall cylindrical pile. After its first year, the compost and Black Kow goes into the general garden plot for my flowers. I do try to insulate my pots from the sun. Last year I surrounded the pots with leaves. This year I just used bigger pots. The larger the pots, the less danger from heat damage. 15-20 gallon-ish. It does get expensive. 2.8 cu ft of metro mix is approaching $20. That is good for one or two plants in one large container. The plastic container itself approaching $10 each. Ouch. Add the cost of water and fertilizer and you need about 35 tomatoes to get to $1 each. I do not think I really answered your question about how to combat bacterial wilt. But my view is that you can't beat it, just avoid it. That means being vigilant about avoiding cross contamination via tools, hoses, scissors, etc. I feel sorry for in ground plants in Florida. View your yard as an ocean of soil. Any tomato plant you plant in ground is at the mercy of all that is swimming around beneath it. Planting in pots is like a swimming pool. You have to put effort into monitoring the chemicals and temperature, but by and far your plants won't get eaten alive. This year is my first year using PVC for tomato cages also. CRW has been preferred in the past, but it is rough and rusty witch I feel can carry over disease from one year to the next. The roughness creates wounds on the vine which can lead to infection. I went to PVC because it is smooth and modular. It can be broken down at the end of the year and submerged in bleach/water. I do not know how long it will last in the sun though. So far it is great. 8 ft tall cages so far. I can add more as I need to. Good luck. Vance

so I've determined my buttercup are beyond saving. I had a bad infestation of cucumber beetles but I thought I had them under control, then last week my squash that had been looking amazing and full of baby squash started turning yellow, day by day they seem to get worse, I though maybe fertilizer so I fertilized three days ago. but they have gotten worse. I've decided I need to pull them :(. they are near my zucchini plants which seem to be ok, they are in a different raised bed. My question is, once I pull them do you think I could plant some seeds and see if they grow? its still warm here and we have a couple months of decent weather but I'm not sure if the soil is damaged from the problems these plants had or if there is a way to treat it to prevent it from happening again?