# Male selection

> Male selection is the choice of which male plants become parents, judged by their vigour, structure, early aroma and above all by the quality of their offspring.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/male-selection.html
- Also written: selecting males, male choice, picking a male, male hunting, stud male selection
- Glossary category: Genetics and breeding · Evidence: Grower practice
- 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"

Male selection is choosing which males to breed from. A male contributes half the [genes](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gene.md) of every seed he sires, so his choice matters as much as the female's. Because males do not produce bud, breeders judge them on indirect traits and, best of all, on their offspring.

## In practice

Breeders start with many regular [seedlings](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/seedling.md) and keep the males that show vigour, good branching, strong stems, resistance, sensible flowering time and good aroma when stems are rubbed or early flowers open. Some males also show resin on [calyxes](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/calyx.md) and leaves. Unwanted males are culled before they shed pollen.

The real test is a [progeny test](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/progeny-test.md): cross the candidate males to the same female, grow out the seed from each, and see which male's offspring are best. Keep the winners as clones or store their pollen, so a proven male can be used again.

## Don't confuse with

- **Pheno hunt**: usually means selecting females for flower.
- **Feminised breeding**: skips males entirely, and with them half of selection.

## Myth check

House position: males are a necessity and are encouraged and rewarded on GenetixBay. The [male showcase](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/stud-book.md) is the Stud Book. Selecting males carefully is one of the clearest differences between breeders and [pollen chuckers](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollen-chucker.md); see [breeders vs pollen chuckers](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/breeders-vs-pollen-chuckers.md).

## Related terms

[Selection](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/selection.md), [Progeny test](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/progeny-test.md), [Regular seed](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/regular-seed.md), [Pollen](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollen.md), [Test cross](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/test-cross.md)

## Read more

- [Selection and pheno hunting: sample sizes and scoring rubrics](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/selection-pheno-hunting.md)
- [Breeders vs pollen chuckers: what real cannabis breeding looks like](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/breeders-vs-pollen-chuckers.md)

## Sources

1. Allard RW. 1999. Principles of Plant Breeding, 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York. ISBN 978-0-471-02309-0
2. Falconer DS, Mackay TFC. 1996. Introduction to Quantitative Genetics, 4th edition. Longman, Harlow. ISBN 978-0-582-24302-6