The phenotype is the set of observable traits of a plant: height, leaf shape, flowering time, aroma, resin, cannabinoid profile, pest resistance. It is produced by the genotype interacting with the environment. Phenotype = genotype + environment + their interaction.
In practice
Growers say "this pheno" to mean one individual plant out of a seed pack, as in "the third pheno smelled like fuel". Strictly, that plant is a genotype that showed a particular phenotype in that room. Run the same clone under a different light, feed or pot size and parts of the phenotype shift; the genotype does not.
That is why serious selection means growing candidates side by side, in the same conditions, and ideally repeating the best ones as clones before deciding. A plant that stood out because it sat in the hot spot has a good phenotype but may not have a good genotype.
Don't confuse with
- Genotype: the DNA. The phenotype is what you see from it.
- Pheno (slang): shorthand for one seedling or selection; same root, looser use.
- Chemotype: the chemical part of the phenotype.
Myth check
"Indica phenotype" and "sativa phenotype" describe plant shape at most (broad or narrow leaflets, structure, flowering time). They do not predict chemistry or effect (Watts et al. 2021). See indica, sativa and ruderalis.
A cannabinoid is any compound that binds the body's cannabinoid receptors or shares the typical cannabis terpenophenolic structure; the plant-made ones are phytocannabinoids such as THCA and CBDA.The genotype is the set of alleles a plant actually carries, either at one locus or across its whole genome, as opposed to the traits you can see.In grower slang, a pheno is one individual plant from a seed lot, usually numbered during a hunt, as in "the #4 pheno".Pot size is the volume of medium a plant roots into; bigger pots give bigger plants within reason, but feeding frequency can let small pots punch well above their size.A seedling is a young cannabis plant from emergence of the cotyledons until it has several sets of true leaves, typically the first 2-3 weeks.A chemotype is a plant's chemical phenotype, in cannabis usually its dominant cannabinoid class: THC-dominant (I), mixed (II), CBD-dominant (III), CBG-dominant (IV) or cannabinoid-free (V).One of the separate serrated blades that make up a palmate cannabis leaf; a mature fan leaf typically has five to eleven leaflets.A pheno hunt is growing many seeds of one line side by side and evaluating them to select the best individual plants, which are then kept as clones.Genotype by environment interaction (GxE) is when different genotypes respond differently to the same change in conditions, so the best cultivar in one room may not be best in another.Heritability is the share of a trait's variation within a population that is due to genetic differences rather than environment, on a scale from 0 to 1.
