Here is another 2 very good reasons for testing and maintaining soil pH Fusarium and Verticillium wilts It seems that Fusarium likes a soil pH of 6.5 and Verticillium likes a soil pH of 7.5. For verification goto UCONN http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/ipm/ On left scroll down to and click on vegtables on the right click on vascular wilts. Read last paragraph in thread.