Foot rots are favored by cool temperatures. The fungus is more a secondary invader of roots initially infected by the common root rot fungus. The fungus surviving on crop residues and rotation may reduce disease severity. Take-all is most obvious near heading on plants growing in moist soil. Diseased plants have basal internodes that are shiny black and have few tillers.
Heads ripen prematurely and are bleached white and sterile.
Plants may break free at the crown when pulled from soil. The fungus causing take-all persists in infected wheat stubble. The disease has only been observed in Texas under irrigated conditions on the High Plains and Rolling Plains. Rotation may reduce disease incidence in fields where take-all has been a problem. Many Rhizoctonia strains infect wheat roots and culms.