# Cross

> A cross is the offspring of mating two different plants, written female x male, as "A x B"; one cross starts a line but is not one.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cross.html
- Also written: crosses, crossed, x (as in A x B), crossing
- Glossary category: Grower slang and culture · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

A cross is the result of [pollinating](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollination.md) a plant of one [genotype](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/genotype.md) with pollen from another, and also the act itself. By convention it is written female first: "A x B" means A was the mother and B supplied the pollen.

## In practice

Crossing two unrelated, fairly uniform parents gives an [F1](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/f1.md) that can be vigorous and fairly even. Crossing two [polyhybrid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/polyhybrid.md) [clone-only cuts](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/clone-only.md), which is what most modern crosses are, gives an F1 that [segregates](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/segregation.md) a lot, so packs of the same "strain" can look like several different plants. That is why one cross with a new name is not a stable cultivar.

Record the cross properly: which plant, which male or pollen batch, the date, how many seeds, and the identity of both parents. A cross registered with its parents on GenetixBay starts life with a traceable lineage claim instead of a name alone.

## Don't confuse with

- **Line**: a population carried over generations; a cross is one generation.
- **Backcross**: crossing offspring back to a parent.
- **Hybrid**: any cross between distinct parents; nearly all modern cannabis is hybrid.

## Related terms

[F1](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/f1.md), [Line](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/line.md), [Pollen chucker](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollen-chucker.md), [Breeder](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/breeder.md), [Backcross](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/backcross.md)

## Read more

- [F1, F2, F3 explained: what filial generations really mean](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/f1-f2-f3-explained.md)
- [Pollination and seed production, step by step](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/pollination-seed-production.md)