# Progeny test

> A progeny test judges a parent by growing out and measuring its offspring, the most reliable way to know what a plant, especially a male, actually passes on.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/progeny-test.html
- Also written: progeny testing, offspring test, progeny trial, breeding value test
- Glossary category: Genetics and breeding · Evidence: Established
- 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 progeny test evaluates a parent by its offspring rather than its own appearance. The candidate is crossed (to one standard tester or to several partners), the seed is grown in uniform conditions, and the offspring are scored. The parent's breeding value is the average performance of its offspring.

## In practice

Progeny testing is how breeders choose males with confidence. Three candidate males are crossed to the same female; the offspring of each are grown side by side. Male B's [seedlings](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/seedling.md) are the most vigorous and uniform with the best aroma: male B is kept, the others dropped.

It also checks females. A gorgeous clone may pass on her traits poorly if they come from a [heterozygous](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/heterozygous.md) combination; her offspring will show it.

For low-heritability traits such as yield, progeny testing is far more reliable than looking at the parent itself, because averaging many offspring cancels out environmental noise.

## Don't confuse with

- **Test cross**: a specific cross to a [homozygous](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/homozygous.md) [recessive](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/recessive.md) to diagnose one [locus](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/locus.md).
- **Test grow (tester grow)**: grow-outs of released or candidate seed to evaluate a line, often by several growers.
- **Pheno hunt**: selecting individuals, not testing parents by offspring.

## Related terms

[Male selection](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/male-selection.md), [Test cross](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/test-cross.md), [Test grow](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/test-grow.md), [Heritability](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/heritability.md), [Selection](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/selection.md)

## Read more

- [Selection and pheno hunting: sample sizes and scoring rubrics](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/selection-pheno-hunting.md)
- [Quantitative traits and heritability: why most good traits are hard to fix](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/quantitative-traits-heritability.md)

## Sources

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