HLVD Hops latent viroid disease from seeds

According to the news around HLVD, it has spread around like a wildfire in northern America and probably around the world. It has also been stated that it can be transmitted through seeds.
Now that I have ordered a whole lot of seeds from the US, mainly Humboldt Csi and Bodhi seeds, but also got some others from a few years ago, I am wondering how likely it is that I may attract something into my garden.
Anyone here already got HLVD confirmed through seeds?
To me this would mean we now have to isolate every plant in seed runs from their siblings and others which would make the grow completely impractical.

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I haven’t known anyone that’s gotten it from seed but I’ve seen numbers around 8% from testing with hops. The main way is using tools from an infected plant on a healthy plant but seed transmission does seem possible. This is a study I read last night on it.
BP_bpl-200001-0033.pdf (371.8 KB)

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Thanks a lot. For the interested reader, the paper says basically that HLVD is very unlikely to be transmitted through seeds of hops plants. Only trace amounts could be detected in hybrid hops seeds by highly sensitive RT-PCR testing.

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That’s interesting, I had seen the rate quoted at 3% in the past but I assume different studies will get different numbers. Even if it’s at an 8% rate, testing parents and clones and using clean tools probably does more to sanitize your grow than anything else.

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These rates were probably detected by PCR too which could mean everything depending on the cycle threshold value. Which we probably all know since corona testing. I wonder if these rates were confirmed by reproducing them in tissue culture or living seedlings. Probably not.

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My understanding is if HLVD is present it is external (on the surface not inside the seeds). I have read that 1% hydrogen peroxide etc. will take care of external pathogens, so this is what I do.
Perhaps it’s like ‘whistling for tigers’ but I haven’t seen any issues
(I think I have seen issues previously).

Cheers
G

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This was my next thought.

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Going over afflictions that can be spread from seed-


I have often encountered seeds infected with pythiosis, the pathogen that causes damping off in seedlings. Many of us have seen seedlings damp off. In adult plants it can cause stem rot, necrosis, and root rot. I always start seeds in new clean soil. I discard the soil from any seeds that fail to germ or are unhealthy. Any seedlings that show signs of damping off are isolated from my grow.

the worst damping off I have seen was Real Seed Co lines that were gathered in the himalayas. 100% of the stock from 2 himalayan lines damped off and died. Not sure if this has improved now that most of their lines are reproductions and no longer gathered from the source.


Bacterial blooms from contamination on the seed hull are also common. It usually appears as a diffuse ring around the seed. It will take out seeds if they are left too long in wet paper towels or soaking in water.


The only time I have observed a viroid spread through seeds is @worcestershire_farms / diggy soze Kashmir seeds. The seeds carry what appears to be hemp mozaic virus, expressing as extreme variegation, other leaf mutations, and dudding at new growth and bud sites. It likely came from a contaminated stardawg cutting.

They also carry a very nasty pythiosis pathogen that was visible in @worcestershire_farms garden rotting away the stems of some of the kashmir plants.

Worcestire farms was aware of these problems in his garden, and the problems with the seed stock, but sent them out anyway and encouraged people to grow it.

Before I was aware of the problem I gave some of those seeds to a friend. I felt like a real asshole for introducing that to his garden.

Fortunately he grew it in a plastic container with no drainage, so it was essentially isolated from the rest of his outdoor garden. No signs of infection have shown up in any other plants.

But I can say for certain that the kashmir seeds from @worcestershire_farms / diggy soze are infected. The kashmir from bodhi and barefrog is completely clean. The kashmir left worcestire’s garden with extreme variegation. It’s pretty clear cut.

If anyone still has these seeds, I recommend you exercise extreme caution or throw it in the trash.

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Thank you for this info!
I have 2 diff. Boxes of Chocolates seed pucks using 2 Kashmir Azad males from 2021, that i will destroy.

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I watched a new video about hlvd on fcp last night. The scientists gave their most recent findings
about the viroid and how it can be transmitted through seeds, as well as how the viroid travels into the root zone. Bleach is the best way to sanitize your equipment. It was a very informative video.

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Thank you for posting this informative video.

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No Prob @BudWhisperer . Figured I’d post the most up to date info (as of the date of the video) since I saw some misinformation floating around.

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