It affects all underground parts of the potato, including the roots, tuber, and stolon.
In a lab cultured sample taken from black dot of potatoes, conidia grew best at 82.4 F and a pH of 6.
[4] The disease is spread more quickly when there are many sclerotia in the soil, rather than when the foliage is inoculated by conidiospores.
[6] Spraying fungicides early on in the growing season, before the inoculation of black dot, can reduce the severity of the infection.
The rotation needs to be fairly long (3–4 years), to allow for the survival structures (sclerotia) to die.