A Cannabis Growers Dictionary (2021)

New growers can often get lost in the slang and terminology. I find that a Cannabis Growers Dictionary would be very useful. Though here at Percys Grow Room, we try and make things as simple as possible for a new grower to follow, using abbreviations and slang terms can’t be helped sometimes.

Here is a cannabis growers dictionary of slang and terminology used by growers. This will help you understand the meaning of some of these terms.

Cannabis Growers Dictionary

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

18/6: Time normally associated with the vegetative stage of growth i.e. 18 hours of light to 6 of darkness, per day.

24/0: Lighting on constantly with no dark period.

12/12: Timing used to initiate the flowering stage of a cannabis plant indoors. For example, 12 hours light and 12 hours darkness.

A

A/C: (Air Conditioning) If the ambient temperatures outside of the grow room, are too high, no amount of extraction will lower the temperatures. In situations like this, you need A/C ( Air Conditioning).

ABV: Already been vaped bud

AC: Alternating Current

Active Intake: Active intake is when an extractor fan, is used to draw air into a grow room. The extractor is usually the same size, or a little smaller than the extractor fan, that draws out out if the grow room

Aeration: Supplying air to water. This is usually done by using an airstone, to pump air through the water.

Aeroponics: Growing of plants in a container in which the roots are suspended in a nutrient mist rather than in a solution.

Air Exchange Rate: The amount if times the air in your grow room, is removed and replaced by fresh air. Usually, it will be between 20, and 30, times per hour.

Air Prune: When the roots of a cannabis plant reach air, they will stop growing outwards, and the tip will stop growing. This is air pruning, and it is very helpful to over all root development.

Auto: A cannabis plant that will flower under any light cycle. It will veg and flower within a set time period, and the growth cycle can not be extended.

B

Background EC: Background EC, or BG EC, is the electro conductivity of your source of water, before adding any nutrients.

Bag Seed: A cannabis seed, found in a bag of bud. These seeds are usually produce by a female plant that has either hermaphrodited, or was pollinated by a male.

Ballast: Provides current and power to the light for HID bulbs. Can be digital, or magnetic.

BG EC: Background Electro Conductivity, the EC of your water before adding any nutrients.

BHO: Butane Hash Oil

Bioavailability: The amount of THC or CBD that is actually absorbed into the blood steam, and has an effect on the user.

Bloom Food: Cannabis plant nutrients designed for growth during the flowering phase. Usually lower in Nitrogen, and higher in potassium and phosphorus, than grow foods.

BTU: British Thermal Unit

Bud Rot: When mould spores have germinated inside of your cannabis buds. Bud rot will ruin your harvest, and you must always be vigilant in the later stages of flowering.

Buds: The flowers of a female cannabis plant. They contain high concentrations of THC and other cannabinoids.

C

C: Degrees Celsius

Calibration: EC and pH meters will have to be regularly calibrated to ensure their accuracy.

Calyxes: The first part of the flower that is formed when a young plant enters its flowering stage.

Cannabinoids: Chemical compounds that naturally occur in the resin of the cannabis plant.

Canopy: The top level of a plant, where the light has most contact with the leaves.

Carbon Filter: A tube filled with coal pellets, that will remove organic molecules from the air. This reduce the smell of you cannabis plants, and is vital to security.

CBD: The 2nd most prevalent cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, and it is emerging as a promising therapy for many illnesses.

CDM/CMH: Ceramic Discharge Metal Halide grow lighting.

CFL: Compact Fluorescent Lamp, grow light.

CFM: Cubic Feet per Minute. This describes the volume of air that is displaced in 1 minute in your grow room.

Chlorophyll: The green pigment in leaves. Chlorophyll captures the suns energy which is used to manufacture sugar from carbon dioxide and water.

Cloning: The process of replicating female plants, by cutting off branches and rerooting them.

COB: Chips On Board, a type of LED lighting.

Colas: The main female flowers on a cannabis plant. They are bigger and longer than buds on side branches.

Cooling Hoods/ Tubes: A kind of lighting fitting for HID lighting, that hold the bulb inside of a tube or hood. The air is pulled through this tube, and reduces the amount of heat put into the grow room.

Cotyledons: The small round leaves that are the first to appear on a cannabis seedling.

Curing: Placing the dried harvest in airtight jars and storing in a dry, dark, cool place. The jars are opened daily to release built up moisture, so the buds are dried slowly.

Cuttings: Parts of a cannabis plant that have been removed for the purpose of cloning. See Also – Cloning

D

Decarboxylation: Wet THC dries and loses a CO2 molecule, which then makes the THC psychoactive.

Deficiencies: Plant problems related to the lack of nutrients available in the medium.

Dissolved Salts: This is the amount of salt based nutrients, that are dissolved into your water.

DWC: Deep water culture, a very popular way of growing cannabis hydroponically, where roots are submerged in reservoirs of water.

E

EC: Electrical Conductivity, the conductivity of water will increase with the amount of salts added. EC is the measurement how many salts are in your water

EC Spike: This is when water has been drank, or evaporated, faster than the plant can eat. The EC of the medium will rise quickly, as dissolved salts are left behind.

Extraction: Equipment used to pull air out of the grow room. Usually,an RVK Extractor fan.

Extracts: Products made from cannabis flowers, where resins and oils are extracted out of the buds. Shatter, Rosin, and THC Oils, are all extracts

F

Fan leaves: The large leaves that grow off branches. These leaves have a bigger surface area, to catch more light.

Feminized Seeds: Seeds which have been bred to ensure a high chances of a female plant.

FIM: A variant of the topping technique, where only a portion of the growth tip is removed, instead of the whole top. This can cause an increase in cola sites. (See topping).

Flip: To induce flowering by changing the light cycle to 12/12.

Flush: The act of pouring water through a plants medium, or changing the reservoir. This is done to remove nutrients and contaminants from the medium.

Flowering: When a cannabis plant grows it flowers, i.e buds.

Foliar Feeding: Spraying the plants with water and/or nutrients to feed the plant nutrients through the leaves.

G

Germinate: When a seed has reached the ideal conditions to start its life cycle.

GPW: Grams per watt, how many grams of dried flower you yield from the wattage of your grow light.

Grow Foods: Cannabis nutrients designed specifically for the vegetative stage of growth. Higher in Nitrogen than Bloom feeds

Guerrilla Growing: Growing cannabis in a secluded location, outdoors. Usually done by growers in illegal countries, that have no space to grow indoor.

H

Hard Water: Water that has a high BG EC, and is usually high in alcium carbonates

Harvesting: When a cannabis plant is ripe and finished, the plant will be chopped down.

Hermie: A hermaphrodite cannabis plant that show both male and female flowers.

HID Lighting: High Intensity Discharge (lighting) HPS, MH, and CMH bulbs, lights that take a lot of energy and put out a lot of lumens.

HPS: High Pressure Sodium lights. This light has a red/orange spectrum that is ideal for the flowering phase.

HST: High Stress Training, techniques such as topping, or super cropping. Where high amounts of stress are exerted onto the plant.

Hydroponics: Growing plants in a medium like water, clay pebbles, rockwool or perlite and vermiculite mixture.

Hybrid: Often refers to a plant or variety that has been developed by interbreeding two or more varieties, species, or genre. In Cannabis, it is usually a mix between, Sativa, and Indica.

Hygrometer: A device that will measure temperatures and humidity in your grow room

I

Indica: Cannabis indica, is an annual plant in the Cannabaceae family originating from the Indian subcontinent.

IPM: Integral Pest Management. Routine spray of pesticides to reduce the chances of pest infestations.

J

K

KWH: Measurement of power, how many kilowatts used in one hour.

L

LEC: Light Emitting Ceramic (lighting- see CMH).

LED: Light Emitting Diode, grow lighting.

Light Burn: When the heat from a light burns the top leaves of your plant.

Light Cycles: The amount of light a cannabis plant receives per day, for example, 18/6, for veg. 18 hours on, and 6 hours off. Or 12/12, 12 hours light and 12 hours darkness

Light Leaks: When Light leaks either out of, or into your grow room. Both are no good! Out wards light leaks can be noticed, and can get you caught. Inwards light leaks can cause your plant to reveg, or hermie

LST: Low-Stress Training, the technique of manipulating the branches in order to reduce plant height to expose more branches to light.

Lumens: A measurement of light intensity.

M

Macronutrients: Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (which are all three derived from air and water); and nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur, and magnesium (through the roots).

Micronutrients: Manganese, boron, copper, iron, chlorine, cobalt, molybdenum, and zinc.

Medium : A soil or soil-less mix, where the roots of a cannabis plant will sit.

MH: The Metal Halide grow light. A HID bulb with a blue spectrum of light.

Mobile Nutrients: Nutrients that can move around the plant, to areas where it is most needed.

Mother Plant: A plant that is female, and kept in “veg”. The plant has cutting removed from it, and those are flowered. The mother plant can be kept in veg for years and offer a consistent supply of the same strain.

N

NFT: A hydroponic irrigation technique where a shallow stream of water containing nutrients is circulated past the roots of plants in a watertight channel.

Neem Oil: A natural pesticide used to deter and kill bugs.

Node: The point on a stem where leaves and branches shoot from.

NPK: Nitrogen is N, Phosphorus it’s P, Potassium it’s K. All three of these elements are essential for plant growth.

Nuits: Nutrients or fertilizer.

Nuit Burn – The side effects of over feeding a cannabis plant.

O

Organic Nutrients: Natural, non-synthetic nutrients.

P

PAR: Photosynthetic active radiation, how much light in a spectrum a plant can actually use for photosynthesis.

Passive Intake: Intake vents for your grow room, that have no intake fans.

Peat moss: The partially decomposed remains of mosses harvested commercially from the wild.

Perlite: A volcanic mineral which is used to help drainage in mediums.

PH: The measure of acidity or alkalinity. Water is usually around neutral at PH 7. PH levels below 7 are classified as acidic,, whilst levels above 7 are alkaline. Most plants prefer a slightly acidic Ph (soil 6.5, hydro 5.8)

Phenotype: The characteristics the plant shows, by expressing certain genetics from its mother, and father.

Photoperiod: A cannabis plant that requires 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of darkness to begin the process of flowering

Photosynthesis: Biochemical process in which light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll, and is used to fuel the building of sugar molecules.

Pistil: A white hair-like protrusion from the nodes/buds of a female plant. Pistils turn from white to brown as the buds mature.

PPM: Acronym for Parts Per Million, this term is used most in hydroponics to measure the amount of nutrients in your feed.

Q

R

Regular Seeds: Cannabis seeds that have a 50% chance of being male or female.

Re-vegging: When a flowering plant or clone is exposed to more than 14 hours of light, and it begins vegetative growth again.

RES: Reservoir, where your nutrients or water are stored for auto feeding of your plant, or hydroponics growing.

RH: Relative Humidity, how much moisture is in the air in your grow room

RO: Reverse Osmosis, the process of filtering water to extract all minerals and contaminates out of it.

Rock Wool: Blocks or slabs of rock wool are used by hydroponic growers.

RSO: Rick Simpson oil, a form of cannabis oil used for medicines.

Root Bound: Where a plants roots have outgrown the pot and has no room to grow. This will result in stunted plants. The solution is a larger pot or transplanting outdoors.

RSO: Rick Simpson Oil, A kind of cannabis oil used for medicines

Ruderalis:Ruderalis is the cannabis variety that has been bred with indica and sativas to create autoflowering strains.

Run Off: The water that leaves the bottom of the medium after watering your plants.

S

Salt Based Nutrients: Plant nutrients that are synthetically made.

Salt Build Up: When there is too many dissolved salts in the medium, and it is starting to cause nutritional problems.

Sativa: You can identify a Sativa by its long, slender, finger-like leaves. A Sativa will typically produce a euphoric, energetic, cerebral high.

ScrOG: Screen of Green, growing plants under a horizontal net, or frame, to keep the canopy level. Used mostly by indoors growers to increase light absorption.

SOG: Where many plants are grown together in a small space

Spider Mites: A small insect that is difficult to see with the naked eye. A common pest to infect the cannabis plant

Strain: Specific genetics of the plant. Example: White Widow, Northern Lights.

Stretch: When a cannabis plant grow very tall, very quickly, causing longer internodal spacing

Synthetic Nutrients: Concentrated and industrial-made nutrients. See Salt Based Nutrients

T

T5: Fluorescent tube lighting with ideal spectrum for seedlings/Vegetative growth

Tap Root: The small white root that will first appear from a germinated cannabis seed

Terpenes: The flavonoids and other cannabinoids that complement high, and flavour of your cannabis.

THC: Tetrahydrocannabinol, is the primary intoxicant in marijuana and hashish.

Tip Leaves: The small leaves that grow in the buds of the plant, usually covered in trichomes when harvested.

Topping: A method used to increase yield and reduce height, by removing the top shoot of a cannabis plant during veg.

Transplanting: Taking your plant from one pot, to another, to increase the amount of root space.

Trichomes: AKA crystals, are tiny, mushroom-shaped glands full of cannabinoids that form on the flowering buds and bud leaves of cannabis.

U

V

Veg: Vegetation, the cannabis plants growth period before the flowering stage

Ventilation: – Air movement and extraction to provide the plant with fresh air and/or to reduce the temperature in the grow area.

W

Watts: A measure of the amount of electricity flowing through a wire. Watt hours measure the amount of watts used in one hour. A kilowatt/hour (KWH) is 1000 watt/hours.

X

Y

Z

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