Liatris (Liatris spicata) is propagated commercially via tubers. As a result, accumulation of tuberborne pathogens has become a significant production limitation. To overcome this problem, the use of post-harvest hot-water treatment (HWT) of tubers was examined. While verticillium (Verticillium dahlia) spores died after a 40 min HWT at 49°C, tubers were injured only after being exposed to a HWT of 53°C. This indicates that a 49°C HWT for 40 min is a practical way of destroying verticillium spores in liatris tubers. However, since the verticillium spores are internal, the heat treatment that is sufficient to be lethal to the spores will also damage the peripherally located buds. Tuber injury was accompanied by enhanced electrolyte leakage and a decline in membrane-protein thiols. Our results point to a possible causal relationship between tuber survival, membrane integrity and protein thiol content.