The process of selecting the best phenotype of a strain for mass production. When a female and male cannabis plant are bred to create a new strain, the female produces many seeds, all of which are phenotypes. Each phenotype will express a unique combination of traits from the parents, so cannabis breeders will grow several phenotypes and then select the most desirable one—this selection process is pheno-hunting.
“This strain is amazing—I heard it took more than a year of pheno-hunting to lock down.”
What is pheno-hunting?
When two cannabis plants are bred to create a new strain, the female will produce seeds, which are all phenotypes. Phenotypes express physical traits of a cannabis strain, including smell, color, potency, resin production, height, etc., and each one will be slightly different.
When creating a new strain, cannabis breeders will grow several phenotypes of the same strain to determine which one is the best. This process takes months or even years, as phenotypes have to be grown from seed, harvested, and buds dried and cured to determine quality.
Once the best phenotype is selected, it will be cloned to get exact copies of it. Those clones will then be mass produced for sale.