Growers who start with clones or tissue culture can count on plants with the same qualities and characteristics as the mother plant, or donor. However, growers starting from seed aren’t guaranteed a replica.
That’s because cannabis exhibits phenotypic variation.[1] A phenotype refers to an organism’s observable traits, such as yield, structure or aroma.[2] The term derives from the Greek phaino, meaning “to appear.”[3] Phenotypes can vary widely based on environmental conditions,[4] so even if two growers plant the same seeds, they may end up with strikingly different plants.
To grow cannabis with the traits they desire, growers need to do a phenohunt, which involves identifying the best plants to clone or propagate for production or to use as parents for further breeding. This process allows growers to harvest crops that stand out in the market, even if the original genetics come from the same cultivar.
Why phenohunting matters
When a cannabis plant is cloned from tissue culture, its genetic makeup is nearly identical to that of the donor plant, though minor differences can emerge due to environmental variations. A seed, however, is the product of sexual reproduction and contains genetic material from both parents. As a result, no two seeds are exactly alike. Think of siblings: they share the same parents but can inherit different traits.
Consistency is crucial in cannabis cultivation, especially for medicinal or recreational markets where consumers expect the same flavor, potency and experience every time. To achieve batch-to-batch consistency, growers must clone or tissue-propagate plants that produce the desired product. Phenohunting helps growers identify those unique plants with the right traits and helps guarantee they can be reliably replicated.
How to phenohunt
Phenohunting is straightforward. Start by selecting a cannabis cultivar and planting multiple seeds from a reputable source. These seeds are typically the result of crossbreeding—when two distinct parental strains are bred to combine or enhance preferred traits—resulting in first-generation (F1) offspring that are genetically uniform (Figure 1).
F1 seeds are ideal for phenohunting because, as the direct offspring of two different cultivars, they’re more likely to have predictable, stable traits. By contrast, second-generation F2 seeds—the offspring of F1 crossbreeding—tend to display greater genetic variation and a broader range of characteristics.[5]
Figure 1. The genealogy of first generation and backcross breeding. Backcrossing is when the offspring is bred with one of its parent strains. In this case, the offspring was backcrossed with a brother of the original male plant. Image source: Vergara, Daniela, Cellene Feathers, Ezra L. Huscher, Ben Holmes, Jacob A. Haas, and Nolan C. Kane. 2021. “Widely Assumed Phenotypic Associations in Cannabis sativa Lack a Shared Genetic Basis.” PeerJ 9: e106972. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10672.
As the plants grow into seedlings, take clones or tissue cultures of each one, so you can replicate any standouts later.
Carefully monitor the plants as they develop. Discard males if you don’t plan to breed further, along with any that look unhealthy or have unwanted traits. Track characteristics such as plant morphology, growth patterns, vigor, bud structure and trichome production.
Consider sending specimens to a lab during the vegetative phase to identify other traits. For example, labs can determine plant sex once seedlings have multiple sets of leaves.[6]
Keep the environment consistent throughout the grow. This is critical to phenohunting success, as it ensures that observed differences are due to genetics, not external variables like light or nutrient levels.
After harvest, measure yield and biomass. Send samples to a lab for cannabinoid and terpene analysis.[7] Personally evaluate for other qualities such as flavor and aroma.
Once you’ve identified plants with the traits you want, use the clones or tissue cultures taken earlier to grow donor plants, which can then be used for mass production.
Breeding cannabis
Some growers may want to go a step further and breed their own cannabis. This requires a few additional steps prior to phenohunting, starting with selecting parental plants. Choose a male and female with desirable traits. If using multiple males and females, keep them separate so that pollination occurs only by grower choice.[8]
When the plants reach reproductive maturity, collect pollen from the selected male and use it to pollinate the female’s flowers. The female will then produce seed, which can be planted and phenohunted. Phenohunted plants can then be used either for further breeding or for mass production (Figure 2).
If scaling to commercial production, it’s critical to preserve the genetics of the selected phenotype through cloning. This ensures the plant’s traits remain consistent across multiple cultivation cycles. The cloned plant can then be grown into a donor plant for large-scale propagation.
Growers who breed their own cultivars may want to explore patents or other strain protections, although legal protections are often limited to cannabis with low levels of THC (i.e., hemp).[9]
Figure 2. The process of cannabis breeding and phenohunting. Image source: Paryani, Twinkle R., Manuel E. Sosa, Michael F. Z. Page, et. al. 2024. “Nonterpenoid Chemical Diversity of Cannabis Phenotypes Predicts Differentiated Aroma Characteristics.” ACS Omega 9 (26): 28806-28815. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsoemga.4c03225.
Conclusion
For growers starting from seed, phenohunting is essential. This advanced technique allows growers to discover unique genetics—and even develop their own. While phenohunting is a meticulous process that can extend time to market, it helps growers deliver a product that stands out—consistently.
Emerald Harvest Team
[1] De Ronne, Maxime, Eliana Lapierre, and Davoud Torkamaneh. 2024. “Genetic Insights into Agronomic and Morphological Traits of Drug-Type Cannabis Revealed by Genome-Wide Association Studies.” Scientific Reports 14: 9162. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58931-w.
[2] Brittanica. 2025. “Phenotype.” Last updated May 2. https://www.britannica.com/science/phenotype.
[3] Ries, Markus, and Andrea Gal. 2006. “Genotype–Phenotype Correlation in Fabry Disease.” In Fabry Disease: Perspectives from 5 Years of FOS, edited by A. Mehta, M. Beck, and G. Sunder-Plassman. Oxford PharmaGenesis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11584/.
[4] Schwabe, Anna, and Mitchell E. McGlaughlin. 2019. “Genetic Tools Weed Out Misconceptions of Strain Reliability in Cannabis sativa: Implications for a Budding Industry.” Journal of Cannabis Research 1 (1): 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-019-0001-1.
[5] Trinklein, David. 2016. “Plant Propagation.” In Missouri Master Gardener Core Manual. University of Missouri Extension. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/mg3.
[6] Morrow, Kenneth. 2022. “Master Pheno-Hunting: 9 Tips.” Cannabis Business Times, March 29. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/columns/tomorrow-in-cannabis/article/15692013/master-pheno-hunting-9-tips.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Holmes, David. 2020. “Cannabis Breeding Basics.” Cannabis Business Times, January 6. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/cultivation/article/15702236/cannabis-breeding-basics.
[9] Officer, Kassandra M., and Lauren J. Robinson. 2024. “Breeders’ Rights No Longer a Pipe Dream for New Marijuana Varieties?” Finnegan, August 13. https://www.finnegan.com/en/insights/articles/breeders-rights-no-longer-a-pipe-dream-for-new-marijuana-varieties.html.
