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Deal stem disease in asparagus is characterized by yellow dead stems with reddish lesions, mostly at soil level. There are two types of infection. The first one with lesions on the base of the stem at soil level, as a result of which the stem dies off. In the second type of infection the lesions appear higher up on the stems, while stems remain mostly green. The disease was proved to be caused byFusarium culmorum. This fungus is mainly spread through the soil. Air dispersal was demonstrated but seems of little importance to disease incidence.

Wilting and dying off of young shoots of the ‘second flush’ of asparagus are typical symptoms of one of the soil-borne diseases of this crop. Fungi could not be isolated from these shoots. A positive correlation was found between an increase of the pF-value of the soil and the occurrence of ‘topwilting’.