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Plant diseases
Fusarium wilt
Fusarium oxysporum · Fungus
Also called Panama disease (bananas), Fusarium yellows (Australia).
Illustration
A soil fungus that blocks a plant's water pipes, so lower leaves yellow and the plant wilts, often on one side. It lives in soil for years and there's no cure for gardeners, so remove affected plants and grow resistant varieties.
How to spot it
- Lower leaves yellowing first, with the yellowing climbing the plant.
- One-sided: one branch, one side of the plant, or half a leaflet.
- Wilting in the heat of the day that later becomes permanent.
- Brown or reddish-brown streaks in a cut through the lower stem.
- Bananas: leaves yellowing from the edges and collapsing, with reddish-brown streaks inside the trunk.
Easily confused with
Verticillium wilt
V-shaped yellow wedges at the leaf edges, and it prefers cooler weather; a lab test may be needed.
Bacterial wilt
White ooze when the cut stem is squeezed.
Drought
The plant recovers after watering.
Where it's a problem
- Worldwide: Common in warm soils.
- Australia: Panama disease tropical race 4 is restricted matter in Queensland: report it within 24 hours on 13 25 23, and buy banana plants only from accredited suppliers.
What to do
- Cut the lower stem to check for brown streaks.
- Remove affected plants promptly, roots included.
- Don't grow the same kind of plant in that soil for 4–5 years, or grow in containers of fresh mix.
- Grow resistant or grafted plants: on tomato seed packets, F, FF and FFF mean resistance to one, two or three races.
- Clean pots, tools and boots, and use clean seed and plants.
Gardeners have no chemical controls; soil treatments are for commercial growers only.
Follow your local council's guidance for disposing of diseased plant material. Official guides usually advise against putting it in a home compost heap.
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Sources
- RHS: Fusarium wilts
- University of California IPM: Fusarium wilt of tomato
- NC State Extension: Fusarium wilt of tomato
- Business Queensland: Fusarium wilt
- Business Queensland: Panama disease
- FAO: Banana Fusarium wilt
Facts checked Sunday 27 September 2026. General guidance only: follow your local council, agency and product label.