Cannabis Cultivation & Breeding Glossary

Growing plant tissue in a sterile, contamination-free environment so it develops without competing microbes.

See also: Aseptic Technique, Sterilization, Subculture

The set of procedures — flame-sterilized tools, sanitized surfaces, clean airflow — used to keep tissue culture work free of contamination.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Autoclave, Sterilization

A pressurized steam sterilizer used to make tools, media, and containers biologically clean for lab or tissue-culture work.

See also: Sterilization, Aseptic Technique

A cannabis plant that begins flowering after a set age rather than in response to shorter day length, thanks to ruderalis-derived genetics.

See also: Ruderalis, Vegetative Stage

A group of plant hormones that regulate cell elongation, apical dominance, and root formation.

See also: Topping, Training

Crossing an offspring back to one of its parents (or a genetically similar line) to reinforce a target trait from that parent.

See also: Selection, Selective Breeding

Seeds found in cured flower of unknown parentage; genetics and stability are unverified.

See also: True-to-Seed, Variety

Two complementary DNA bases (A–T or C–G) that pair across the double helix; the basic unit used to measure DNA length.

See also: Recombination, Segregation

A plant that completes its life cycle over two growing seasons — vegetative growth in year one, flowering and seed set in year two. Cannabis itself is annual; the term is used comparatively.

The process by which living cells build complex molecules (like cannabinoids or terpenes) from simpler precursors through enzymatic reactions.

See also: Terpenes, Trichome

The small leaf-like structure that wraps a cannabis flower's calyx and hosts a high density of trichomes.

See also: Trichome

Community folklore or anecdote presented as fact. Useful as a starting point for observation, but never a substitute for controlled evidence.

A morphological grouping (often abbreviated BLD) for wide-leaflet cannabis varieties historically associated with indica-type descriptions.

See also: Variety, Strain

A solventless concentrate made by agitating cannabis in ice water and sieving trichome heads through mesh bags.

See also: Solventless Extraction, Washer

A statistical estimate of how likely an observed result could occur by chance alone; smaller values suggest the effect is less likely random.

See also: Quantitative Genetics

The offspring produced by a cross; the generation being evaluated for inherited traits.

See also: Selection, Selective Breeding

A lab technique that removes cell walls and merges two cells to combine genetic material outside normal sexual reproduction.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Somaclonal Variation

A line that has been inbred long enough that offspring reliably express the same traits generation to generation.

See also: Selfing, S1, True-to-Seed

The study of traits controlled by one or a few genes with discrete categories (present/absent, color A vs. color B).

See also: Quantitative Genetics, Traits

The study of traits shaped by many genes plus environment, producing continuous variation (yield, height, cannabinoid percentage).

See also: Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL), P-Value

A region of the genome statistically linked to variation in a quantitative trait.

See also: Quantitative Genetics, Recombination

In a cross, the female plant that receives pollen and produces the seeds.

See also: Reciprocal Cross, Selfing

Running the same pair of parents both directions (A♀×B♂ and B♀×A♂) to check whether the maternal or paternal role changes offspring outcomes.

See also: Receiver, Backcross (BX)

The reshuffling of parental DNA segments during meiosis that produces genetically unique gametes.

See also: Segregation, Base Pair

The metabolic process that releases energy by breaking down sugars using oxygen; occurs day and night in living plant tissue.

See also: Transpiration

An unreliable, stress-based method where an unpollinated female is left past ripeness in the hope it self-pollinates to produce feminized seeds. Results are inconsistent.

See also: Selfing, S1

A cannabis subgroup adapted to short growing seasons and known for day-neutral (autoflowering) behavior.

See also: Autoflower, Sativa

The first-generation seeds produced by selfing a single female plant; genetically similar to but not identical to the parent.

See also: Selfing, Purebred

A traditional morphological label for tall, narrow-leaflet cannabis. Historic naming; modern breeders describe cultivars by chemistry and lineage rather than sativa/indica alone.

See also: Broad Leaf Drug Varieties, Variety

Deliberately nicking or abrading a seed coat to help water enter and speed germination of tough-shelled seeds.

See also: Stratification, Testa

A canopy training method where branches are woven through a horizontal screen to keep an even flowering canopy.

See also: Training, Topping

The Mendelian separation of allele pairs during gamete formation, so each offspring receives one allele from each parent.

See also: Recombination, Traits

Choosing which plants become parents of the next generation based on measured or observed traits.

See also: Selective Breeding, Selection Pressure

How strict a breeder is when discarding plants; higher pressure moves a population toward the target trait faster but shrinks diversity.

See also: Selection, Single Seed Descent (SSD)

Repeated cycles of crossing and selection to shift a population toward chosen traits over generations.

See also: Selection, Backcross (BX)

Pollinating a female with pollen produced by a chemically reversed clone of itself to produce feminized S1 seeds.

See also: S1, Rodelization

The natural late-life decline of a plant or tissue — fading leaves, slowing metabolism — as the life cycle ends.

A tissue-culture technique that uses the growing tip of a shoot to propagate clean, genetically identical plantlets.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Subculture

An inbreeding scheme that advances one seed per plant per generation to reach genetic uniformity efficiently.

See also: Selection Pressure, Purebred

A nitrogen-containing aroma compound with a strong fecal or barnyard note; contributes to some ‘funk’ profiles at low concentrations.

See also: Thiols, Tropical Volatile Sulfur Compounds

Concentrate production that uses a chemical solvent (such as ethanol or hydrocarbons) to strip cannabinoids and terpenes from plant material.

See also: Solventless Extraction

Concentrate production that uses only physical or mechanical means — ice water, heat, pressure — without chemical solvents.

See also: Bubble Hash, Washer

Unintended genetic or epigenetic changes that appear when plants are propagated through tissue culture over many cycles.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Subculture

Reducing microbial life on tools, surfaces, or media to a level low enough for aseptic work.

See also: Autoclave, Aseptic Technique

A common informal label for a cannabis variety. In this glossary and in Verdant we prefer 'cultivar' — a botanically defined, stable, named variety — because 'strain' is loosely used and imprecise across the industry.

See also: Variety, Purebred

Anecdotal claim that a clone line loses vigor over time. Often reflects accumulated pathogens or stress rather than a genetic phenomenon; treat as observation, not a verified biological rule.

See also: Bro Science, Somaclonal Variation

Exposing seeds to a period of cold or moisture to break dormancy and improve germination.

See also: Scarification

Transferring tissue-cultured plantlets to fresh medium to continue growth and avoid nutrient depletion or waste buildup.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Shoot Tip Culture

The medium the plant's roots grow in — soil, coco, rockwool, peat, or hydroponic media.

A high-stress training technique where the inner tissue of a stem is gently crushed and bent so the branch heals stronger and lower to the canopy.

See also: Training, Topping

Lab-made compounds designed to bind cannabinoid receptors. These are not cannabis and can carry serious safety risks; treated here only as terminology.

Encapsulated somatic embryos or shoot tips coated in a gel that mimics a seed coat, used for storage and transport of clonal material.

See also: Shoot Tip Culture

A large family of volatile aroma compounds produced in trichomes; they shape a cultivar's smell and flavor and influence perceived character.

See also: Trichome, Biosynthesis

The outer protective seed coat.

See also: Scarification

Sulfur-containing compounds responsible for strong, pungent 'gassy' or tropical-fruit aromas at very low concentrations.

See also: Tropical Volatile Sulfur Compounds, Skatole

Removing the apical growing tip to encourage the plant to develop multiple main colas instead of one dominant one.

See also: Training, Auxins

The ability of a single plant cell to divide and regenerate a whole new plant under the right conditions.

See also: Aseptic Culture, Protoplast Fusion

Any physical shaping — bending, tying, topping, screening — used to steer canopy shape, light exposure, and airflow.

See also: Screen of Green (SCROG), Super Cropping, Topping

Measurable or observable characteristics — height, flowering time, aroma, yield — that breeders evaluate and select on.

See also: Selection, Qualitative Genetics

Describing an organism whose genome contains DNA moved in from an unrelated species via genetic engineering.

The movement of water from roots up through the plant and out through the leaves as vapor; drives nutrient uptake and canopy cooling.

See also: Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD), Xylem

Moving a plant from one container or substrate to another, usually to give roots more space.

The glandular, resin-producing structures on cannabis flowers and bracts that synthesize and store cannabinoids and terpenes.

See also: Bract, Terpenes

A subgroup of sulfur-based aroma molecules (a subset of thiols) linked to tropical-fruit or gassy notes in some cultivars.

See also: Thiols, Terpenes

A line whose seeds reliably produce offspring with the same key traits as the parent generation.

See also: Purebred, Variety

The difference between how much moisture the air is holding and how much it can hold at the current temperature; a practical guide to transpiration and canopy comfort.

See also: Transpiration

A distinct, named group within a species. In cannabis we prefer 'cultivar' when the variety is deliberately bred and stably maintained.

See also: Strain, Purebred

The pre-flowering growth phase where the plant is building roots, stem, and leaves under long-day (or age-based, for autoflowers) conditions.

See also: Autoflower, Training

A vessel that agitates cannabis in cold water to knock trichome heads free for solventless (ice water hash) extraction.

See also: Bubble Hash, Solventless Extraction

The plant's water- and mineral-conducting tissue that moves fluid upward from the roots.

See also: Transpiration