Symptoms include water-soaked areas on flowers and at stem joints where senescent flower petals have fallen. Water-soaked stem lesions may also appear at the soil line if senescent plant debris is present around the plant.
Infected fruits turn gray and rot.
Each apothecium produces millions of ascospores that are disseminated by wind. A single sclerotium may produce up to five to six apothecia, depending on environmental conditions. Because ascospores germinate on and colonize dead or senescent tissue, senescent flowers are frequently the source of new infections. Occasionally infections may originate before flowering from mycelium in the soil that is in direct contact with injured stem tissue. Both infection and subsequent spread of the disease are determined by temperature and moisture conditions.