Hundreds of young seedlings are lost in community pots due to this devastating disease. Rots of these plants kill many and stunt the growth of survivors. As surviving plants mature they are plagued by the recurrence of fusarial diseases during wet periods. On dendrobium plants at least 9 months old, new shoots are blackened by Fusarium infections and slow rots develop especially at the leaf tip. Leaves are lost and the entire apical tip of new shoots are commonly killed.
Spots expand very slowly.
As the leaf matures, some of the spots develop a black edge, while the center of the spots becomes sunken. The leaf tissue surrounding the spot is slightly chlorotic or pale green. With mature dendrobium plants, only the young leaves or wounded leaves are susceptible, while mature unwounded leaves are resistant. The occurrence of leaf spots on mature leaves is the result of infection when leaves were young. The distribution pattern of leaf spots reflect the leaf position of the unopened, young leaves of a new shoot.