← All diseases & disorders
Fusarium Wilt

Fusarium Wilt

Fusarium oxysporum

Fungalalso: Fusarium wilt

A soilborne fungal disease that plugs the water-conducting tissue of a plant from the inside, causing it to yellow, wilt, and die, often one branch or one side at a time. Fusarium wilt is most damaging to tomato but also strikes melon, cucumber, beans, and peas. Once it is in the soil it can persist for years, so resistant varieties are the main defense.

🔎 How to spot it

Look for yellowing and wilting that often begins on the lower leaves and on just one side or one branch of the plant, while the other side stays green at first. Wilting is worst in the heat of the day. A telltale sign is brown streaking in the water-conducting tissue, visible as a dark ring or streaks when you slice through the lower stem lengthwise. The whole plant eventually wilts and dies.

🥀 Damage it causes

By blocking the xylem, the fungus chokes off water flow, so the plant wilts, declines, and usually dies, often around the time fruit is sizing up. Yield is sharply reduced or lost. Because the fungus lives in the soil, the same spot tends to stay infested year after year.

🔬 What causes it

Fusarium wilt is caused by the soil fungus Fusarium oxysporum, which enters through the roots, often aided by root-knot nematode feeding, and grows up into the water-conducting tissue. It survives in soil and debris for many years as tough resting spores and is moved on infested soil, tools, water, and transplants. It is favored by warm soil and warm weather.

🛡️ Prevent it

Plant resistant varieties, marked with an F, FF, or FFF in seed catalogs, which is by far the most reliable control. Rotate away from susceptible crops for several years, control root-knot nematodes, and keep soil pH and nutrition balanced. Clean soil off tools, shoes, and equipment to avoid spreading it, and do not move soil from an infested bed.

🧯 If it is already here

There is no cure for an infected plant or for infested soil, so remove and destroy affected plants, roots and all, and do not compost them. For future plantings rely on resistant varieties, rotation, and growing in clean soil or containers with fresh mix. In warm climates, summer soil solarization can lower the fungus level in the top few inches of soil.

💡 Good to know

Fusarium wilt looks much like verticillium wilt, but Fusarium favors warm soils and often shows one-sided yellowing, while Verticillium tolerates cooler conditions; a lab test is the only sure way to tell them apart. Each Fusarium strain is specialized to certain crops, so the one that hits your tomatoes may not affect unrelated plants.

🌱 Plants it affects

337 plants in the library can be affected by this problem

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAji Amarillo PepperAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApril Tryst CamelliaArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArmenian CucumberAtlantic Giant PumpkinAugust Beauty GardeniaAutumn Joy SedumBachelor's ButtonBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Cherry Tomato🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Krim TomatoBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green Bean🥒Boston Pickling Cucumber🍅Box Car Willie TomatoBrandywine TomatoBroad Windsor Fava BeanBrunneraBurning BushButtercup SquashButterfly Blue Pincushion FlowerButterfly Marguerite DaisyButterfly WeedButternut SquashCafe au Lait DahliaCaladiumCalendulaCalibrachoaCalifornia Giant ZinniaCalifornia PoppyCampanulaCannellini BeanCantaloupeCardinal FlowerCarolina GeraniumCarolina JessamineCarolina Reaper PepperCasaba MelonCayenne PepperCelebrity TomatoCharleston Gray WatermelonCherokee Purple TomatoCinderella PumpkinCinnamon BasilClimbing HydrangeaClimbing Prairie RoseCocktail Vodka BegoniaColeusCoral Drift Groundcover RoseCosmosCostata Romanesco ZucchiniCranberry BeanCreeping PhloxCrenshaw MelonCrimson Sweet WatermelonCubanelle PepperCuminCupani Sweet PeaDavid Garden PhloxDelft Blue HyacinthDelicata Squash

For educational and informational purposes only. Disease management advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a problem positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.