"the virus he's referring to is called hop latent viroid, a plant-specific pathogenic RNA that's been called the greatest threat to the cannabis industry across the country. It can easily spread undetected, suck the potency out of plants and destroy the commercial value of crops.
Nick Masso of Indo Labs, a cannabis testing facility outside Boston, says by the time growers notice the signs, they have just one option.
NICK MASSO: Destroy everything. You cannot recover from hop latent viroid.
Almost all of California's marijuana nurseries were affected in 2021, according to a survey from cannabis genetics company Dark Heart Industries. It's now an issue coast to coast."
More than 90% of Calif. pot farms infected with ‘severe’ pathogen
By Lester Black May 25, 2023 10:31 a.m
An infectious pathogen inside California’s pot farms is attacking cannabis plants and growing invisibly for months only to spoil a crop just as a farmer is ready to harvest. Scientists believe that it’s in nearly every pot farm in the state and could be causing billions of dollars in damages to the national weed economy.
Hop-latent viroid, or HLVd, shrivels pot plants and reduce how much weight they produce by as much as 30%. It also destroys the amount of THC, pot’s most common active compound, that a plant produces, greatly reducing the value of affected plants.
HLVd was first documented in cannabis in a pair of scientific studies published in 2019, including a study that confirmed the viroid’s presence in samples from a Santa Barbara pot farm. It’s now infected at least 90% of California’s cannabis grows
