Dangers, Preventative Measures, and Testing for Cannabis Viruses | Verne Bioanalytics

jack harry
Dec 7, 2022
6 min read

Rapid expansion has been a hallmark of the cannabis market in recent years. In 2018, retail sales topped $1.2 billion, and by 2022, analysts anticipate they will have increased to $2.5 billion. Even while mass manufacturing is becoming more commonplace, losses due to natural disasters are on the increase as well. Curious viral symptoms have been seen by cannabis cultivators, prompting them to seek assistance from independent laboratories like Verne Bioanalytics.

Still, viruses like hop latent viroid, lettuce chlorosis virus, and cannabis cryptic virus are very harmful and far more prevalent than you may expect. Growing cannabis requires cultivators to be knowledgeable about these infections and current methods of viral control.

Modern laboratory testing is easily accessible, and it's the most efficient way to monitor crop health. What we know about the possible sources of viral contamination in cannabis, current techniques of early detection, and preventative measures producers may take are outlined here.

Viruses in Cannabis That Make the Plants Look Like They Never Flower

More and more often, cannabis farmers are baffled by "dud" harvests, and experts have pinpointed three primary viruses as the cause of the mystifying symptoms:

The Hidden Virus of Hop
A virus that causes chlorosis in lettuce
The Hidden Virus in Cannabis

Hop latent viroid (HLVd), sometimes called "dudding" or "the dudding disease," is an RNA virus that replicates exclusively via the metabolic processes of its plant host. Hop latent viroids were first detected in hops, but they can infect cannabis, a close cousin of hops, with more severe consequences.

In 2017, a cannabis producer in California identified HLVd after seeing abnormal, sickly signs in a portion of his crop, including yellow leaves and brittle stems, and decreased yields. Experts looked into the matter and found that the terrible side effect of the legalisation wave in 2012 was the quick expansion of plants in California harbouring the virus.

The lettuce chlorosis virus (LCV) was initially discovered in Southern California desert-grown lettuce and is transmitted by the sweet potato whitefly. It is a linear, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus. Early infection in plants, such as cannabis and hemp, causes severe yellowing, brittleness, and stunted growth, symptoms that are identical to those caused by HLVd.

The cannabis cryptic virus (CCV) was discovered in Europe in 1941 and belongs to the family Partitiviridae. CCV is a double-stranded RNA virus. Recently, the virus was discovered in cannabis plants that had symptoms previously linked to the hemp streak virus. These symptoms included yellow streaks, wrinkles, and curled leaves. Pollen and seeds may play a major role in CCV transmission, according to the available evidence.

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Hazards of Viruses to Cannabis and Hemp Plants

Scientists are certain that viruses, particularly hop latent viroid, have proliferated across the cannabis business at large. Hop latent viroid impacts more than 30% of all cannabis plants in the U.S., equivalent to over $4 billion in yearly revenue losses, according to forecasts supported by more than 200,000 tissue testing done on cannabis crops throughout California from August 2018 through July 2021.

Although hot latent viroids can cause significant damage to crops, many farmers are unaware of the threat. LCV and CCV, in addition to HLVd, induce observable symptoms in cannabis plants, such as:

Growth Stagnation
Dry, brittle roots
decreased blossom count
Disfigurement or chlorosis of the leaves.
Oil and trichome production decrease
weaker effect
The overall quality and output decline

The Influence of Viroids on the Strength, Production, and Appearance of Cannabis

Infected cannabis plants may seem stunted and abnormal, with yellow, brittle leaves and branches, due to the effects of hop latent viroid, lettuce chlorosis virus, and cannabis cryptic virus. Smaller and more widely spaced buds result from the plants being shorter and having closer node spacing due to infection.

Plants with fewer trichomes, the microscopic hairs on cannabis plants that carry cannabinoids like THC Test Kit For Growers and CBD as well as antioxidants, terpenes, and other compounds that give each strain its flavour and aroma, are the result of decreased flower size and spacing concerns.

The combined impacts, such as lower yields, constitute a major issue that shows up during laboratory testing: insufficient potency. Hop latent viroids infection may reduce a plant's THC Test Kit For Growers concentration to half of that of a healthy plant. Some diseased crops, according to industry insiders, might lose as much as 70% of their THC Test Kit For Growers content. That means fewer sales to new clients and a lot of wasted time and money.

Hidden Virus Symptoms and Their Threats

Hop latent viroid is particularly perplexing because of its "latent" character and its ability to lie dormant inside cannabis plants and to proliferate widely without causing any obvious symptoms. This means that many farmers don't realise their plants are being infected with the disease. Infected plants cannot be cured without a time-consuming tissue-culture method.

Because of their covert nature, cannabis viruses pose a significant risk to hemp producers and are difficult to eradicate. Without regular lab testing to guarantee crops are safe and free of these detrimental pollutants, detection and eradication would be almost difficult.

Understanding the Infiltration of Viruses into Cannabis and Hemp Crops

Growers need to be wary of the following major sources of contamination:

Most cannabis viruses are transferred from diseased plants to healthy ones by mechanical means, namely through the use of pruning tools and scalpels.

Growers sometimes unwittingly initiate and accelerate the spread of infections that have yet to show outward indications when they take cuttings from an infected "mother" plant for propagation and cloning, as is the case with hop latent viroid and lettuce chlorosis virus.

Introduce new types or cuttings into the manufacturing process without first quarantining them. This may leave the whole system open to attack. This risk exists even when they take all necessary precautions, such as conducting disease tests on stock material, to make sure it's disease-free before being planted.

Research has shown that the whitefly, among other pests, may spread LCV from plant to plant.

While seeds aren't the most common vector for HLVd, studies have shown that they are still rather effective, with an estimated 8% transmission rate. Because CCV may spread from plant to plant via its seeds, breeders may choose to do the pre-cross screening.

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Cultivation Tips to Prevent Cannabis Contamination

If farmers want to stop the widespread devastation of their crops, they need to make disease control a major priority. Cannabis producers may reduce the likelihood of disease spread by focusing on a few important locations and strategies, such as these:

Always Spick and Span

Implementing proper sanitation techniques is crucial for farmers to keep cannabis viruses and contaminants at bay. Every time you prune, you risk infecting the plant's vascular system, therefore it's important to use brand-new, sterile blades or to regularly sanitise your pruning tools.

The cleanliness of tools is essential, but not all disinfectants are the same. Although alcohol combinations are widely used for cleaning in the cannabis business, a 10% home bleach solution is the most efficient technique to prevent the spread of viruses in growing operations.

Fend off unwanted pests

Every farmer needs a plan for efficient pest management. Applying fungal and bacterial biological control agents may target cannabis pests such as aphids, thrips, mites, and whiteflies that transfer and extensively spread viruses and other infections when they feed on diseased plants and make their way throughout the crop.

3. Test and Quarantine

Farmers must create a sterile quarantine zone for new arrivals to ensure healthy seedlings. Before multiplying or cloning, they may separate new arrivals or mother plants to make sure they are healthy.

A diagnostic screening test is the quickest technique to confirm the existence of a virus and the only way to be fully sure a plant is healthy. If the test results are positive, immediately remove the diseased plant from the facility. Any plants that have contact should likewise be quarantined and tested.

It is recommended to conduct tests often and early in the process.

Growers should make it part of their process to test mother plants and random crop samples multiple times each year through certified laboratories frequently to double-check that they haven’t come into touch with any pollutants. Because viral symptoms may stay latent and undetected for extended times, it’s better to be proactive and alert. It is important to conduct tests on any plants that seem unusual.

Consistent and early testing for pathogens is essential for the 2022 growing season. Although the substantial hazards associated with hop latent viroid, lettuce chlorosis, and cannabis cryptic virus are now emerging onto the radar, aggressive third-party labs have pivoted swiftly to product testing.

At Verne Bioanalytics, we undertake pre-harvest testing for every step of the planting process, including numerous pollutants and toxins. After a customer reported stunted growth and wondered whether a virus may be to blame, we created a general qPCR test to detect the presence of viruses such as hop latent, lettuce chlorosis, and cannabis cryptic. We've been helping that farmer test his mother plants for viruses every few months, and we also do spot checks whenever there's reason to suspect infection.

Growing hemp outdoors or in greenhouses and hoop houses, hop latent viroid and other deadly illnesses are becoming an increasingly widespread problem throughout the nation. Growers' profits might take a serious hit if they don't use every tool at their disposal to tackle these developing infections, such as rigorous cleanliness, effective pest control, and regular testing.

We're here to support your farming enterprise and make it simple to begin testing right now if you're serious about taking Test Kit HLVD against these illnesses.