This pathogen can be very devastating and hard to eradicate, responding only to expensive fumigation or fungal resistant plants.

As the Canola plant matures, peeling the top layer back reveals microsclerotia grown from the fungus.

Another key feature of the pathogen is that symptoms are typically found on outer or lower parts of the plant in a localized area.

This causes the disease to be most infectious during the spring when there is a lot of water in the ground and new, young plants are present.

Verticillium longisporum is favorable in conditions that are hot and dry with soil and air temperatures of 15-19 °C and 15-23 °C.

The disease easily enters the vascular system to infect when root and xylem function is reduced due to stressful conditions.

[5] Excess moisture and warm soil temperature protects the plant from V. longisporum and makes it less of a problem because the survival structures rapidly lose viability.

[6] The pathogen can survive harsh, cold weather and winters due to the thick walled microsclerotia it produces.

[7] V. longisporum is extremely difficult to eradicate due to its ability to endure fluctuating conditions.

[8] The survival of the microsclerotia in the soil means that the field cannot grow oilseed for many years in order to avoid disease.