# Mom

> Mom is grower slang for a plant kept in vegetative growth only to supply clones, as in "I keep a mom of every keeper".

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mom.html
- Also written: moms, mum, momma, mommy plant
- Glossary category: Grower slang and culture · Evidence: Supported
- 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"

Mom (UK "mum") is everyday grower slang for a [mother plant](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mother-plant.md): a plant held in vegetative growth under long days so it can be cut repeatedly for clones and never flowers.

## In practice

"Moms" live in a corner of the veg space, are kept small by regular cutting and root pruning, and are refreshed periodically by rooting a new cut to replace the old plant. A grower with five keepers might run five moms, each labelled, while a backup cut of each sits in a second location or in [tissue culture](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/tissue-culture.md).

Moms are the most valuable plants in a clone-based garden, so sanitation matters most here: pests, [mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/two-spotted-spider-mite.md) and especially [hop latent viroid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hop-latent-viroid.md) spread from a mom to every clone taken from it. Testing moms for [viroid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/viroid.md) and quarantining incoming cuts protects everything downstream.

## Don't confuse with

- **Mother plant**: the horticultural term for the same thing; "mom" is the slang.
- **Female plant**: every mom is female (unless it is a kept male, sometimes called a "dad"), but not every female is a mom.
- **Keeper**: describes the selected [genotype](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/genotype.md); mom describes its role.

## Myth check

"Old moms run out of steam." GenetixBay position: there is no [genetic drift](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/genetic-drift.md) apart from pathogens. A tired mom is usually [root-bound](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/root-bound.md), underfed, infected or overcut. Start a fresh one from a cut. See [clone-only preservation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/clone-only-preservation.md).

## Related terms

[Mother plant](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mother-plant.md), [Cut](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cut.md), [Keeper](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/keeper.md), [Cloning](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cloning.md)

## Read more

- [Clone-only cuts and how to preserve them](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/clone-only-preservation.md)