Wiki: cannabis glossary
Short definitions of the words you'll meet in our catalogue and articles: from rosin and hash to phenotypes and living soil.
What do white ash and oil rings mean?
They're folk markers among connoisseurs. Light, almost white ash is linked to careful drying and curing, and an oily ring along the burn line to plenty of resin. They don't replace a lab test, but they do say a lot.
What is a backcross (BX)?
Crossing a hybrid back to one of its own parents. The number after BX shows how many rounds were done. Each round brings the offspring closer to that parent and locks in its traits so they pass on reliably.
What is badder?
A concentrate with a creamy, whipped consistency, like butter or frosting. Both solvent extracts and rosin can come in this texture.
What is a breeder?
Someone who creates new strains: they choose parent plants, cross them and select the best offspring. A grower raises the harvest; a breeder creates the genetics that other growers then raise.
What is burping?
Airing jars during curing: the lid is opened briefly to let out excess moisture and let in fresh air. Without it, mold can develop inside the jar.
What are cannabinoids?
A group of compounds characteristic of cannabis. The best known are THC and CBD, and more than a hundred have been described. Cannabinoids build up in the trichomes' resin together with terpenes.
What is charas?
Handmade hash from India and Nepal. The resin is collected by rubbing living, flowering plants between the palms and rolled into soft dark sticks or balls.
What are chelated salts?
Mineral nutrients in which a metal — iron, zinc, manganese — is wrapped in an organic “shell”. That lets the plant absorb it even when the growing medium's pH is far from ideal.
What is chlorophyll?
The plant's green pigment. In a concentrate it brings a grassy taste and a dark color, so hashmakers try to keep it out: they work cold and keep the material's contact with water short.
What is a clone (cut)?
A cutting taken from a mother plant and rooted on its own. Genetically it's an exact copy of the mother, so clones give the same result every time — seeds don't.
What is coco coir?
Shredded coconut husk fiber used instead of soil. It holds water and air well but carries almost no nutrients, so the plant gets everything with each watering — which gives the grower precise control at every stage.
What is a concentrate?
The umbrella term for products in which the resin has been separated from the plant material. The valuable part stays, while leaves, stems and excess fiber are removed. Hash, rosin and extracts are all concentrates.
What does × (cross) mean in strain names?
Breeding two plants together. The × between names reads as “crossed with”: the mother plant usually comes first, the pollen donor second. That way a hybrid's name shows its lineage.
What is curing?
The slow finishing of already dried buds in airtight jars at a steady humidity, usually for several weeks. Moisture evens out inside each bud, leftover chlorophyll breaks down, the smoke gets smoother and the flavor deeper. Some of the lightest terpenes are lost along the way, which is why live products skip curing.
What is distillate?
Cannabinoids refined by distillation to an almost pure substance: a clear, thick oil with no flavor or smell of its own. Aroma is added back with terpenes. Most vape cartridges are made with distillate.
What is a drop?
The release of a small batch on an announced date. The term comes from sneakers and streetwear: runs are limited, there may never be a restock, and the best-known drops sell out almost at once.
What is dry sift?
Hash made without water: dried flowers are shaken or rubbed over screens, and the trichomes fall through the mesh. It's an ancient method in a modern form, with precisely sized screens.
What is the Emerald Cup?
One of California's oldest and most respected cannabis competitions, held every year since the early 2000s. A win there is a mark of quality a strain carries for years.
What's the difference between flower rosin and hash rosin?
The starting material. Flower rosin is pressed straight from buds: it's quick, but plant impurities come out along with the resin. Hash rosin is pressed from hash that has already been cleaned, so it's purer and more concentrated.
What does fresh frozen mean?
The plant was frozen right after harvest, without drying. That keeps more terpenes, so the concentrate smells fresher.
What is full spectrum?
In hash, it's a product made from all screen grades at once, with no selection. In the world of extracts the term means something else: an extract that keeps the plant's whole range of cannabinoids and terpenes rather than one purified compound.
What does “gas” mean in cannabis?
Slang for a sharp, fuel-like smell with notes of gasoline, solvent and sometimes burnt rubber. It comes from old lines such as OG Kush and Chem. Among connoisseurs, gas is read as a sign of a rich terpene profile.
What is ice water hash (bubble hash)?
Hash separated from the plant with ice water and filtered through mesh bags. It's also called ice-o-lator, after one of the first sets of such bags. “Bubble” comes from how a clean sample bubbles and melts almost completely when heated.
What is an indica-dominant hybrid?
A hybrid whose family tree leans toward indica lines: such plants tend to be shorter, bushier and quicker to finish. The indica/sativa split is loose these days — terpenes tell you more about a strain's character than the label does.
What does indoor mean?
Growing inside, where equipment rather than weather sets the light, temperature, humidity and airflow. The opposite is outdoor, under open sky. Indoor costs more but gives the most predictable result.
What is a keeper?
The word has two meanings. A keeper is the person who maintains a living clone of a rare phenotype for years and passes cuttings on. It's also the plant itself that made the cut after a hunt: “this pheno is a keeper.”
What is the legacy market?
The US term for the unlicensed market that existed before legalization and still runs alongside the legal one. Many of today's licensed brands came out of it, bringing their genetics and skills with them.
What are limonene, caryophyllene and myrcene?
The three most common terpenes in cannabis. Limonene smells of citrus peel, caryophyllene of black pepper and spice, myrcene of earth, ripe mango and hops. Their balance is a big part of how a strain is recognized.
What is live rosin and why does it cost more?
Rosin made from fresh frozen material: the plant is frozen right after harvest, without drying, so it keeps more terpenes. The same amount of material yields the least live rosin, and the process is the most labor-intensive: freezing, ice water, screens, drying, pressing. That's why it costs more.
What is living soil?
Soil with its own ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and worms. They break down organic matter, and the plant feeds from the soil rather than from a nutrient solution. It's slower and harder to grow this way, but the method is linked to a deeper, more complex flavor.
What is a micron?
One millionth of a meter. For comparison, a human hair is about 70 microns thick. On a hash label, microns mean the mesh size of the screen the trichomes passed through.
What are mycorrhizae?
Fungi that bond with a plant's roots and act as an extension of them, reaching water and minerals the roots can't, in exchange for sugars. In organic growing they're one of the main allies.
What is old school hash?
Hash made the traditional way: dry sifted and pressed into dense slabs or balls, sometimes with heat. The goal is the familiar old-school flavor rather than the purity of individual grades.
What is pheno hunting?
A multi-stage search for the best plant among seedlings of one strain. Candidates are grown under identical conditions and compared, and the finalists are tested over several more cycles from clones. A hunt can take more than a year.
What is a phenotype?
It's a specific variation of a plant within one strain. A hundred seeds of the same strain grow into a hundred different phenotypes; growers select the best one and then propagate only that one from clones.
What is rosin, in simple terms?
It's cannabis resin pressed out with heat, with no solvents. It's made from flower, hash or fresh frozen material — the last kind is called live rosin.
What is a rosin filter bag for?
A small bag of fine nylon mesh that holds the material in the press. The melted resin passes through the mesh while plant particles stay inside. The finer the mesh, the cleaner the rosin.
What is rosin jam?
Rosin that was aged in a sealed jar after pressing. Some of the cannabinoids crystallize, and the mass turns thick and grainy, like jam. It barely changes the flavor — it's mostly about texture.
How does a rosin press work?
Two metal plates with precise heating and a mechanism that squeezes them with great force: manual, hydraulic or pneumatic. The material goes between sheets of parchment, which keeps the resin from sticking to the metal and makes it easy to collect.
What is shatter?
A clear solvent extract that looks like amber glass. It's hard and brittle and snaps like hard candy — hence the name.
What's the difference between solventless and solvent-based concentrates?
Solvent-based extracts are made with solvents — butane, propane, ethanol — which are then removed. Solventless concentrates are made purely mechanically: with water, ice, screens, pressure and heat. There's nothing in them but the plant itself.
What is Synganic?
A brand name for an approach where mineral nutrients and living organics work together. In essence it tries to take the best of both worlds: the speed and control of mineral feeding and the flavor that organic methods bring.
What are terpenes?
Volatile aromatic compounds the plant produces in the resin of its trichomes. The same compounds give pine, citrus, lavender and pepper their scent, and terpenes are what make one strain smell and taste different from another. They're the first to suffer from heat and air, so careful storage decides how bright the aroma stays.
What is THC?
Tetrahydrocannabinol, the plant's main psychoactive cannabinoid. The percentage on the label is its share of the dry weight. High THC doesn't guarantee flavor or aroma — those come from terpenes.
What are trichomes?
Microscopic resin glands on the flowers: under a loupe they look like mushrooms with round heads on thin stalks. The heads fill with resin holding cannabinoids and terpenes. Growers watch their color change to choose when to harvest, and making hash and rosin is all about separating those heads from the plant.
What is wax?
An opaque, soft solvent extract with a wax-like consistency. It forms when the extract is whipped or crystallizes after purging.
What does the Z in strain names mean?
Usually it's a nod to Zkittlez — the strain that became the parent of most trending hybrids of recent years. A Z almost always promises a sweet, candy-and-fruit profile.