We consider experimentally three-wave resonant nonlinear interactions of fields propagating in nonlinear media. We investigate the spatial dynamics of two diffractionless beams at frequency omega1, omega2 which mix to generate a field at the sum frequency omega3. If the generated field at omega3 can sustain a soliton, it decays into solitons at omega1, omega2. We report the experimental evidence of the transition from steady frequency wave generation to solitonic decay in nonlinear optics.