Every mother PCR-tested. The COA is public.
HLVd is the silent killer of modern cannabis libraries. Invisible to the eye. Devastating to yield. We test every mother by qPCR before propagation — and we publish the receipts.
3R Testing Labs · COA #3122
335 mother plants tested by TaqMan RT-PCR. Every result returned HLVd-negative. Published 2024-09-15.
What is HLVd?
Hop Latent Viroid is a small infectious RNA molecule that infects cannabis (and hops) and dramatically reduces yield, potency, and terpene production. Infected plants often appear visually healthy — symptoms only emerge in flower, by which point an entire propagation library can be compromised.
Industry estimates suggest 30–90% of commercial gardens carry HLVd. The only reliable way to identify infected mothers is laboratory PCR testing — visual inspection is unreliable, and clones from an infected mother inherit the viroid.
Why qPCR specifically?
qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) is the gold-standard method for HLVd detection. It is several orders of magnitude more sensitive than ELISA or visual inspection. Our lab partner uses validated primers and runs every sample with positive and negative controls.
Our testing policy
Before any mother enters our propagation library, it is sampled and submitted to 3R Testing Labs for qPCR HLVd screening. Mothers that test positive are quarantined and removed. Only HLVd-negative mothers produce clones. Re-testing occurs on a rolling schedule.