# Cut trading

> Cut trading is growers exchanging clones of selected plants with each other, a traditional way rare genetics spread and are kept alive.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cut-trading.html
- Also written: trading cuts, clone trading, cut trade, clone swap
- Glossary category: Grower slang and culture
- 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"

Cut trading is the exchange of rooted clones (cuts) between growers, usually one keeper for another. It is how many [clone-only](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/clone-only.md) cultivars spread and survived before any formal archive existed.

## In practice

Trading carries two big risks. First, pests and pathogens: [broad mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/broad-mite.md), [russet mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hemp-russet-mite.md) and [hop latent viroid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hop-latent-viroid.md) travel inside cuts, so a new clone should be quarantined, inspected and, ideally, viroid-tested before it joins the garden. Second, identity: a traded cut's name is a claim, and the same plant circulates under many names while different plants share one name. Record where each cut came from and when.

The legality of giving or trading cannabis plants varies widely, including whether a trade counts as a sale. Check local rules. On GenetixBay, member-to-member exchange runs through the Swap only in the lanes the law allows where both members live.

## Don't confuse with

- **Clone sales**: commercial supply of clones by a licensed nursery.
- **Seed trading**: lower pest risk, but offspring are new individuals rather than copies.

## Related terms

[Cut](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cut.md), [Elite cut](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/elite-cut.md), [The Swap](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/the-swap.md), [Hop latent viroid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hop-latent-viroid.md), [Quarantine](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/quarantine.md)

## Read more

- [Clone-only cuts and how to preserve them](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/clone-only-preservation.md)
- [Sanitation and disease prevention for cannabis grows](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/diseases/sanitation-and-prevention.md)