Clubroot: Stunted, Wilting Broccoli or Cauliflower
Set your conditions — the recommendation updates instantly.
GardenSays
Best match: Clubroot. This one can't be cured — confirm quickly.
- Best match
- Clubroot
- Severity
- Can't be cured
- Causes checked
- 1
Based on plant stunted or wilting without an obvious cause on the lower leaves with moist soil, the closest match is clubroot. Confirm it against the actual plant: Wilts even with only slight drought stress; leaves may yellow; the plant fails to form a harvestable head. Pull one up to check — roots are swollen and distorted into large clubs.
- Clubroot is one of the possibilities and can't be cured — rule it out first: Wilts even with only slight drought stress; leaves may yellow; the plant fails to form a harvestable head. Pull one up to check — roots are swollen and distorted into large clubs.
- This is a symptom-pattern match from your written description, not a lab diagnosis. If the plant is collapsing over days (not weeks), treat it as the worst plausible cause until ruled out.
- A clear, well-lit photo (or a sample bag) to your county Extension office resolves this faster and more reliably than guessing from a description — especially when the possibilities need different treatment.
Do this this week
- 1.Confirm it first: Wilts even with only slight drought stress; leaves may yellow; the plant fails to form a harvestable head. Pull one up to check — roots are swollen and distorted into large clubs.
- 2.No cure once infected. Remove and destroy the plant; don't plant any cabbage-family crop in that spot for 3-4+ years.
- 3.Collapsing fast (days, not weeks)? Photograph it and check with your county extension before treating
Calculated result · 2 verified sources · Checked 2026-07-17 · How we decide
Why
What to do: No cure once infected. Remove and destroy the plant; don't plant any cabbage-family crop in that spot for 3-4+ years.
- A symptom tree ranks causes by how well your conditions match each cause's known pattern — the distinguishing signs are how you confirm it on the actual plant, not a lab result.
- Most leaf problems trace to water, weather, or common leaf-spot fungi; true plant-killers are rarer but worth ruling out first.
When this doesn't apply
- If the plant is collapsing fast (days, not weeks), treat it as the most severe possibility on the list until proven otherwise.
- Multiple symptoms at once usually means the top cause here plus plain stress — fix watering first, then re-check.
How this was calculated
- 1. SymptomSource guidance
Broccoli: plant stunted or wilting without an obvious cause — 1 known cause evaluated (extension-sourced)
- 2. Your conditionsCalculated result
Location on plant: lower; soil: moist. Causes whose known pattern matches these conditions rank higher — this narrows the list, it doesn't identify anything.
- 3. 1. Clubrootmatch score 1Calculated result
Distinguishing signs: Wilts even with only slight drought stress; leaves may yellow; the plant fails to form a harvestable head. Pull one up to check — roots are swollen and distorted into large clubs.
Data sources
- University of Minnesota Extension — Clubroot — Plants are stunted or wilt with only slight drought stress; leaves may yellow; older plants fail to produce a harvestable head; roots are swollen and distorted into large clubs, firm and light-colored early in the season. (checked 2026-07-17)
- University of Minnesota Extension — Black rot of Brassica crops — Black rot causes yellow, V-shaped/triangular lesions at the leaf margin and can rot cauliflower crowns; most damaging in broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Bacteria enter through leaf-margin pores (hydathodes) where morning dew collects, or through wounds. (checked 2026-07-17)
What changes this answer
Where on the plant?
Soil right now
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