# Line

> A line is a population of plants descended from chosen parents and maintained over generations under one name, with recorded lineage.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/line.html
- Also written: lines, seed line, genetic line, breeding line
- 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"

A line is a breeding population carried on over generations from defined parents, under one name. It implies continuity: you can make more of it, and the next batch should resemble the last.

## In practice

A breeder "working a line" grows each generation, selects parents for the next, and records which plants went into which batch. "Is it a line or a cross?" is a fair question to ask a seller: a single cross of two clones is one generation with no track record, while a line has been grown out, selected and tested several times.

Lines are tracked on GenetixBay by [GB-ID](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gb-id.md), with each batch of seed recorded separately, because the same name can cover very different batches if the parents changed.

## Don't confuse with

- **Strain**: a popular name that may refer to a line, a cut or just a label.
- **IBL**: a line inbred until it breeds fairly true; a stricter claim.
- **Cut**: one individual kept by [cloning](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cloning.md).

## Related terms

[Cross](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cross.md), [IBL](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/ibl.md), [Breeder](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/breeder.md), [GB-ID](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gb-id.md), [Bay Lines](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bay-lines.md)

## Read more

- [Backcrossing, IBLs and stabilisation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/backcrossing-ibl-stabilisation.md)
- [How to document lineage evidence (GB-ID evidence levels L0-L4)](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/documenting-lineage-evidence.md)