The bacterium causes spots on both foliage and fruit. Small, yellowish green to brown spots develop on the leaves. Under favorable weather conditions, spots become numerous and sometimes coalesce into large spots. Infected leaves turn yellow and fall off. The disease is seed and soilborne.
Infected seed serves as source of infection to emerging seedlings.
Splashing rains spread the organism from diseased to healthy plants in the field. Control can be obtained by using disease-free seed and starting a preventative fungicide program early in the growing season. Applications should be made at periodic intervals and continued during the growing season. Genetic resistance may be available in certain types of peppers, however, most of the common green pepper types are susceptible. Root systems of surviving plants are damaged, resulting in stunted plants and poor yield.