Plants with bacterial wilt are prone to winter kill. Resistant cultivars keep the disease under control. If you discover the disease in a susceptible cultivar, limit disease spread by mowing new stands before old stands. Also, do not mow wet plants. Fusarium oxysporum is a fungus that causes fusarium wilt.
Fusarium wilt progresses over several months.
The fungus enters roots through wounds in the taproot and contunues into the xylem, or water-conducting tissue. Shoots and leaves may wilt during the day but regain turgidity at night. As the infection progresses, stems become bleached. The xylem eventually becomes plugged, causing death. Fusarium wilt can be identified by the dark reddish brown discoloration in the stele, or center, of the taproot.