The skills and the facilities required in the weaning stage do not in themselves guarantee minimal losses; much depends also on the quality of the plant material produced in the previous stage. The main goal during the stage of weaning or acclimatization (as it is also known), is the adaptation of the plants from a sterile environment to greenhouse conditions, with a minimum of loss.

During the multiplication and the rooting stage, plants have been growing in a sterile environment with high humidity, in a controlled atmosphere and on a sugar based medium. Once transferred to soil, plants need to adapt to greenhouse conditions with lower humidity, varying temperature and with the presence of micro-organisms. At this stage, the plants become self-sustaining, taking up water and minerals through their roots and photosynthesing within their leaves to produce their own supply of nutrients, in the usual way of green plants.