HpLVd, information, Vendors, Testing and Reviews

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
I just had my first experience with HLVD, wiped out every strain I have collected over the ten years I’ve been growing. I take the blame for not knowing about it, or having/ knowing proper pruning procedures. I suspect it came in on a dirty clone, from a vendor that was already mentioned and test result posted. I did not test myself, so I will leave names out. I grow in 3’x6’ beds with organic coots style soil mix. My question is if anyone knows how long this viroid will remain contagious in the root system remains that are left behind after pulling the infected?
I'm so sorry.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Gym sock odor? Lol ok

Seemed like a pretty straight forward question that could help others….. myself included.

I don’t post much at all, these endeavors are not legal in my local.

Theres that, and the fact I don’t want to perpetuate this pathogen.
Welcome to RIU and I don't think you have to worry about perpetuating it via posting. I understand the worry about legality. :eyesmoke:
 

Sqwee

Well-Known Member
For virus testing including hop latent viroid, leaf tissue is best. Be sure to take one leaf from each of the main growing stems. Leaves in the 3’’-5” range work well, with 3 leaves to make up one sample.

It is important to note that because of the latent nature of HpLVd, a minimum 3-4 tests on each plant is suggested before you can ensure a plant is truly negative. Testing should occur every 1-2 weeks.


In 4 weeks you can have better more accurate results from testing though. Would take about 10-14 the other way. Also you are neglecting the odds of choosing a branch that may be asymptomatic or not infected.
I am still 100% for testing as my assurance.
How am I neglecting that a branch may be asymptomatic when I'm the one that brought up the need for multiple tests? You said it takes 4 weeks for it to "fully spread", now you're saying it doesn't fully spread.

This is the first time I've seen you even acknowledge the need for multiple tests.

Interesting, mine was evident in veg. I don't have an opinion about best practices for clone vendors.
It can lay dormant in a plant and the plant can look completely healthy until stress factors trigger it, not always visible in veg.

Flowering it out should be standard practice, not just for determining if the donor plant is healthy but to also verify you're selling a legit cut.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
.....snip......
Flowering it out should be standard practice, not just for determining if the donor plant is healthy but to also verify you're selling a legit cut.
Wouldn't DNA testing be more accurate for verification of cut and that can occur in veg.
 

Sqwee

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't DNA testing be more accurate for verification of cut and that can occur in veg.
Sure, show me anyone "DNA testing" their cuts to prove its the strain they're saying it is.

I think its worth noting that DH shouldnt get all the credit for bringing this to the forefront.

There are plenty of threads with hundreds of pages with growers trying their damnest to get people to wake up and pay attention.
I have a whole other level of respect for those guys.
They're just the main ones who spread it to everyone's gardens and now have a pending patent on how to clean infected plants. Respect I guess...
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
But there is no guarantee the referenced DNA material was authentic to begin with. The best clone sources will be able to trace the provenance of their cut back to the original crew that released it, if they cant, then you should question their authenticity.
So I'm supposed to take a business's word on their clone's provenance over electrophoretic proof on a geno/pheno type. Wasn't the argument that began this thread all about some businesses are bad and not to be trusted. So how do you choose which business is good and even with many good reviews not all businesses remain good. That's why the ability to test objectively is important.

Now the DNA test will only be as good as their sequenced library's accuracy. I agree with that.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Well since this issue was first identified in larger nurseries and they decided to bring this treasure trove of information to us complete with studies, data, methodology, etc... I'll state the obvious.

It's probably best if people stop getting clones and genetics from these nurseries. The testing is not reliable and any clone you get now that shows negative when you get it could be positive a month or 2 later. So basically there is no way to ensure that any clone you get from these larger nurseries is HPLVD free. We have to thank DHN for bringing this to the grower communities attention. I suggest people forgo the purchase of clones and instead start new plants from seed since even a clone that came from a plant that tested negative could be positive later and you would have brought that pathogen into your grow. And since they also claim that this pathogen can be passed along in seed I also suggest that you avoid seed from any of these outfits that have had incidents of this pathogen.

"That means infected plants can test negative in one test and then test positive several months later."


So the solution for most growers is just to avoid these outfits since there is no guarantee that anything coming from them isn't harboring the pathogen.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I just had my first experience with HLVD, wiped out every strain I have collected over the ten years I’ve been growing. I take the blame for not knowing about it, or having/ knowing proper pruning procedures. I suspect it came in on a dirty clone, from a vendor that was already mentioned and test result posted. I did not test myself, so I will leave names out. I grow in 3’x6’ beds with organic coots style soil mix. My question is if anyone knows how long this viroid will remain contagious in the root system remains that are left behind after pulling the infected?
If what you say is true which I'm skeptical of then avoiding any of these nurseries and outfits that have at one time had plants that tested positive is the only way to ensure that you're not spreading the pathogen.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
And there’s no known “cure” except isolating and re growing the plant via tissue culture?

So it’s all 100% about prevention at this point.
That's apparently what these guys are saying. "Cleaning" plants through tissue culture is not feasible for a majority of growers so the only solution is to avoid any stock that has been produced by any outfit that has tested positive for HPLVD. That's the only way to be 100% sure that you don't get this pathogen apparently.

The other option is the continued expense of testing regularly or apparently paying for tissue cultured plants that will most likely carry a label saying "HPLVD Free" at a premium price.

Just get some seeds from other places and avoid it altogether. It seems at this point that it's mostly isolated to a certain growing region so acquiring genetics from other places seems to be the best course of action. I'm just going by the information that's been provided by those that apparently identified this in cannabis. If the testing is as unreliable as they say and can be passed on in seed form then everything some of these outfits are selling is potentially infected.

100% prevention if it exists would start with genetics from other sources.
 

Ganjonator

Well-Known Member
If what you say is true which I'm skeptical of then avoiding any of these nurseries and outfits that have at one time had plants that tested positive is the only way to ensure that you're not spreading the pathogen.
Not completely true, it could be spread to my newly popped seed plants if it is still active in the roots/ root remains of the plants I pulled. Hence the question…. Are my seed plants safe to go in beds that were previously occupied by the living dead?
 

Milky Weed

Well-Known Member
Not completely true, it could be spread to my newly popped seed plants if it is still active in the roots/ root remains of the plants I pulled. Hence the question…. Are my seed plants safe to go in beds that were previously occupied by the living dead?
It may sound silly but if you wanted to be 100% sure and you really want to re-use this soil, you can pasteurize it.

This is done by literally baking your soil in the oven. I would just get new soil and avoid any possible new sources of Hplvd. Probably other ways to do it than an oven though, but heat will kill most things.

I don’t believe enough is known yet about how long it may stay active in roots. Ide rather be safe and just get new soil.
 

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Not completely true, it could be spread to my newly popped seed plants if it is still active in the roots/ root remains of the plants I pulled. Hence the question…. Are my seed plants safe to go in beds that were previously occupied by the living dead?
I’ve read that the viroid cannot exist outside a plant host for very long, only a few hours, but who knows. I’d probably try to Solarize any soil beds I planned on reusing if the previous plants were duds. Better safe than wasting months of time and ending up with duds again.
 
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