Inner tissue of stems, peduncles, etc. become slimy and discolored, plant parts hollow and collapse, often with a dark external discoloration; fruit develop a depressed, water-soaked spot that enlarges and rots the fruit rapidly, reducing the fruit to a sac-like appearance with a foul odor.
Rain or irrigation splashed from soil or plant debris into natural openings in fruit (at the stem scar or blossom end), through wounds caused by insects or pruning in stems or fruit or systemically into fruit through vascular tissue of infected stems.
