Infected plants are chlorotic, stunted and have striped leaves.
Infected leaves have a downy growth on the underside, toward the basal part. Potential infection is increased when the crop is grown in soil previously grown to infected sorghum, field corn, or sweet corn. Although high populations of spores are produced on the leaf surface, they are short-lived and require extended periods of high humidity for infection. Overwintering spores produced between leaf veins exist in the soil for long periods. Practices which hasten the breakdown of crop residue will help reduce the amount of inoculum carried over in the soil.