3 Important HLVd Prevention Techniques Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd or HLV) | Verne Bioanalytics

 The HLVD increases once again in certain areas of the United States, and every cannabis farmer should be adhering to essential HLVd prophylactic methods in order to save their crops and their income.

Hop Latent Viroid: What Is It?

Cannabis plants become sick because of the infectious virus HLV that can be identified by HLVD Testing. It was initially identified in hop plants many years ago, and it first became apparent in cannabis plants in the 2010s. In a California cannabis growing facility, the virus was formally established as the cause of stunting in 2019. (i.e., dudding disease).



HLVd is a silent killer since it may remain dormant in cannabis plants for a very long period without showing any signs at all because it is a latent viroid. Fast forward to 2021, and HLVd has become a significant issue for cannabis farmers in the US and Canada that was on the verge of a catastrophe and HLVD Testing is the solution.

In your grow facility, how does HLVD spread?

Mechanical transmission and infected clone transfer are the two main ways that HLVd spreads. Let's examine each transmission technique in more detail.

Mechanical Transfer

The term "mechanical transmission" of HLVd refers to touching someone who has the virus. Cannabis plants may get infected with HLVd when an HLVd-infected item contacts them, passing the virus from the object to the plant.

Tools and equipment, including pruning tools, cutting equipment, and even pots used for growing and transplanting cannabis plants, are the most prevalent mechanical means by which HLVd is transferred to cannabis plants. HLVd may spread to an uninfected plant, for instance, if you prune an infected plant and then prune an uninfected plant using the same equipment.

Transmission of Infected Clone

When clones from an infected mother plant are introduced into your grow facility, infected clone transmission occurs. Clones from infected mothers often have reduced success rates at establishing roots, but if they do, 10–30% of your plants may die from HLVd.

What Happens If You Have HLVd in Your Cannabis Plants?

HLVd may seriously affect your plants and income with no visible early warning symptoms that can be confirmed by HLVD Testing. Common signs of the viroid emerging from latency include:

  • Height and leaf size increase at a slower rate.

  • Less flowers in mass

  • Looser and smaller buds

  • Broken stems

  • Irregular branching

  • Deformities in leaves

  • The chlorosis of leaves

  • Lower trichome and resin levels

  • Decreased output of oil

  • Decreased vigor

  • Smaller leaves and closer-spaced internodes in the vegetative state

Quality and yields will suffer if your plants are infected with HLVd, which will eventually lead to a decrease in sales. 90% of the participating cultivation sites tested positive for HLVd, according to research done by Dark Heart Laboratory with 100 Californian cannabis farmers between August 2018 and July 2021.

Analysts in the cannabis business predicted at the time that more over 30% of all cannabis plants are impacted by HLVd. If farmers don't take action to stop it before it starts, HLVd might cost the cannabis business billions of dollars each year.

What You Can Do to Avoid HLVd in Your Grow Facility

Sadly, HLVd is a latent virus that may exist for a very long period before any symptoms appear. Additionally, eradicating HLVd from your facility is neither fast nor simple. The greatest approach to safeguard your plants and your profits is via prevention.

To prevent HLVd out of your grow facility, use the 3 S's:

1. Sanitation 

You must thoroughly clean any tools, equipment, and other items that could come into contact with plants since this is the most typical method that HLVd is spread. Use a 10% bleach solution (i.e., 1 part bleach to 9 parts water) as opposed to standard sanitation solutions since they won't eradicate HLVd.

The use of containers, which might spread HLVd to your cannabis plants, should also be avoided. Use single-use grow bags instead to enhance hygiene and lower transmission.

For instance, you may convert to single-use, inexpensive grow bags, which come in a variety of sizes and provide your grow operation other advantages in addition to cleanliness, such as:

  • Cut down on labor expenses

  • Spend less on containers

  • Make it unnecessary to wash and store pots

  • No need for equipment or potting machines

  • Simple to assemble and transfer pH-balanced and buffered

  • No need for a pre-soaking

  • Uncompressed means there is no waiting time, no need to spend time hydrating, and better consistency

  • Drainage openings

  • Micro-perforated all throughout for improved airflow and oxygen to the root zone.

2. Systems 

Make sure you're taking precautions to stop the introduction or spread of HLVd at your facility by reviewing your procedures and SOPs. Make sure, for instance, that you have processes in place to:

isolation of newly brought in clones

Plants quarantined for infection

Create control zones all across your facility.

Make sure to thoroughly clean everything that comes into touch with plants.

Keep a supply of seeds, clones, and tissue culture offsite.

3. Screening 

HLVD Testing is essential to safeguard your plants against the spread of HLVd since it is a latent viroid. You should at the very least conduct comprehensive screenings often, including:

  • Test newly arrived clones at the facility

  • Before you clone, test your mother plants.

  • You regularly test plants at your facility.

  • Visually screen and regularly check plants for HLVd signs.

  • Important Lessons About HLVd Prevention for Cannabis Growers

The most effective treatment for HLVd is prevention. You don't want this virus to enter your facility since it has the potential to be deadly. Therefore, adhere to the following three essential preventive practices: properly sanitize, create and implement preventative systems, and screen often.

Additionally, think about switching to clean living soil grow bags to lower the risk of HLVd transmission and increase the quality and productivity of your plants. To start today, get in touch with us!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bio Analytics as a foundation for higher quality of life | Verne Bioanalytics

Image
  The activities in Bio Analytics are important across various sectors, in order to generate lucrative concepts and technologies for the future. This includes everything from treatments and pharmaceutical medications to detecting technologies and valuable potentials for the agriculture and food business. Bioanalysis is a branch of science that focuses on how the biosciences are analyzed. Verne Bioanalytics techniques and technologies are essential to biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular genetics, cell and developmental biology, and medicine. Because they all analyze biological systems' metabolisms, they share something in common. This is where the industry's great potential for bioanalysis research begins to materialize. Personalized medicine is made feasible by bioanalytics, which establishes the fundamental building blocks for patient-related diagnoses, health-improving, and therapeutic procedures. This is analogous to the agricultural and food industries, where bioana...
Read more

A Suspicious Pathogen Is Harmful To Cannabis Crops | Verne Bioanalytics

Image
  Marijuana growers around the country are dealing with a widespread sickness that is damaging their plants. The illness is caused by a HPLVD Testing . Once it left California, it traveled all across the country. Sadly, the diseased plants have infected other crops, defeating the purpose of the plants crossing state lines—to increase the legitimate markets. The illness was first made public in 2019, but many think plants have been infected since at least 2014. Dubbing, which is defined as stunted development and a deficiency in both trichomes and secondary metabolites, has been the subject of reports dating back to 2014. All of this reduces the plant's potency when it is smoked or consumed. Furthermore, HPLVD Testing in cannabis plants is essentially nonexistent. The absence of appropriate sanitation for both recreational and medical marijuana contributes to the increase of HpLVd infection. To stop the illness from spreading quickly, new plant kinds should be quarantined in additio...
Read more

Defend Your Facility Against HLVd | Verne Bioanalytics

Image
Without talking about HLVd or Hop Latent Viroid, we cannot discuss healthier plants and higher yields. The cannabis industry is beginning to become aware of the silent killer HLVd.  HLVD Testing is specifically used to detect this virus. Discover what to watch out for and the most effective preventative measures below. The Facts You Need to Know About HLVd Even while there are usually no immediate, evident indications of infection, prominent warning indicators include reduced development in height and leaf size, closer nodal spacing, and tiny, light-colored buds with much fewer trichomes than usual. HLVd is generally disseminated across plants through the sharing of unclean tools like scalpels and scissors. Preventative measures are essential since treating an infected plant is practically difficult. This virus is especially found through HLVD Testing. Guidelines for Preventing HLVd It is necessary to employ a solution containing bleach since common sanitation treatments like iso...
Read more