Mature Watermelon Vine Decline and Similar Vine Decline Diseases of Cucurbits

Since the mid-1980s, watermelon fields in southwestern Indiana have experienced outbreaks of a disease syndrome known as mature watermelon vine decline (originally known as sudden wilt). The disease was a limiting factor in production and reduced yields in many fields in 1989, 1995, and 1999. In 2000, it was especially severe, affecting more than 50 percent of watermelon acreage in southwest Indiana, and reducing total estimated yield by 20 percent.