Darek brown to black cankers with concentric zonation occur on stems near the soil or aboveground; large cankers are often associated with wounds produced by pruning petioles. The cankers enlarge slowly and by harvest stem are girdled and plants die. Small tan to brown lesion are interspersed between the larger lesion . Tissues beneath the cankers exhibit a brown dry rot especially in the pith area. The xylem 4-7cm above and below the cankers.
Its etiology has been uncertain because of susceptibility of field resistant cultivars in greenhouse inoculation and failure to induce the disease by A. alternata
