Initial symptoms appear as brown lesions on the petioles that develop at or near the soil line or up in the plant canopy.
Lesions rapidly expand into soft, watery, decayed areas.
The plant tissue surrounding the lesions may turn pink. In advanced stages of the disease, lesions may contain profuse white mycelia of the pathogen. Under favorable conditions, the entire petiole and plant base may collapse. Leaf infections on newly forming leaves may also occur. Brown leaf lesions rapidly expand into the leaf petiole.