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The Official Cannabis collection · sheet 04No 04 · Sour DieselGenetics

Genetics

Is Sour Diesel indica or sativa? Its genetics and family tree

Sour Diesel is a hybrid that leans sativa. Most accounts trace one side to Chemdog’s Chem 91 cut; the other side is disputed, with Super Skunk the most-cited answer.1,2,3,4

Family tree

  • Chemdawg (Chem 91)Hybrid; Chemdog’s line, grown since 1991
  • Super SkunkIndica; Skunk #1 × Afghani; most-cited, disputed

Sour Diesel

  • HeadbandSour Diesel × OG Kush
  • Sour AppleSour Diesel × Cinderella 99
  • Super Sour DieselSuper Silver Haze × Sour Diesel
  • Sour TangieEast Coast Sour Diesel × Tangie
  • Sour JackSour Diesel × Jack Herer
  • Purple Sour DieselSour Diesel × Purple Kush
Parents as most often reported and offspring as listed by Leafly; the second parent is disputed.1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11

The two parents most sources name

Chemdawg is the line the breeder Chemdog has grown and spread since 1991, from what was thought to be Northern California bag seed picked up via a Grateful Dead concert. Leafly lists Sour Diesel and OG Kush as its children. It has its own guide in the Official Cannabis network at chemdawg.com.12

Super Skunk is an indica bred from Skunk #1 and Afghani, and Leafly lists Sour Diesel among its children.5

Which cross? The accounts side by side

Sources broadly agree on a Chemdog connection but not on the rest, including which plant was the mother. Some say the first “Diesel” was not a new cross at all (see below).

AccountWho says so
Chemdawg (Chem 91) × Super SkunkLeafly; Weedmaps; Crop King Seeds; DNA Genetics, which says most sources agree1,4,13,14
A Super Skunk pollinated a Chem 91 female, around 1996Barney’s Farm15
A Super Skunk accidentally pollinated by Chemdog 91Weedmaps News16
Chem 91 pollinated by an unknown hermaphrodite in the grow room of Weasel, the grower who took a Chem 91 cut to Staten Island; named “Diesel” in late 1994High Times (2016)3
Chem 91 × Diesel, where Diesel was itself Chem 91 × Super Skunk or Northern LightsLeaf Nation (2026)17
Original Diesel × DNL, with Chemdawg, Mass Super Skunk, Sensi Northern Lights, RFK Skunk and Hawaiian further backSeedFinder’s genealogy18
Mass Super Skunk × 91 Chemdog, or a Mexican sativa × a Chemdog phenotypeAllBud2

Other versions add their own recipes: Royal Queen Seeds lists Original Diesel × (Northern Light × Shiva × Hawaiian), Reserva Privada 91 Chemdawg × Mass Super Skunk/NL, and Humboldt Seed Organization’s Sour Diesel #2 Mexican Sativa × Afghan × Kemo.19,20,21

What “Diesel” first meant

Top Dawg Seeds told High Times that “Diesel” began as a sales name for the Chem 91 cut itself, because some buyers were put off by the name “Chem Dog,” and that AJ used it until it stuck. Barney’s Farm also says AJ renamed a Chem cut “The Diesel,” but gives a different reason: so it would not be confused with anything else sold in the city.15,22

High Times’ own history says AJ gave the name to the accidental cross, which friends in Albany later called “The Sour.” It became famous as NYC Diesel, AJ Sour Diesel or East Coast Sour Diesel.3

How sativa is it?

Most sources call Sour Diesel sativa-leaning, but the labels vary by version: AllBud lists 90% sativa and 10% indica; Barney’s Farm, Royal Queen Seeds and Humboldt Seed Organization’s Sour Diesel #2 are 70% sativa; Leafly’s AJ’s Sour Diesel entry is 65% sativa; and Reserva Privada’s version is listed at 60% indica.2,15,19,20,21,23 Leafly files Sour Diesel itself as a hybrid with mostly energizing effects.1

East Coast, AJ’s, NYC, Super: one name, several strains

Menus and databases use the name for more than one plant. Our lab figures count only products labelled plain Sour Diesel (or Sour D and Sour Deez) and keep the others out.24

NameWhat sources sayIn our lab data
East Coast Sour Diesel (ECSD)Another name for Sour Diesel on Weedmaps and SeedFinder; Leafly keeps a separate ECSD entry, a sativa it lists as a Sour Diesel descendant4,18,2593 results excluded24
AJ’s Sour DieselNamed for AJ; High Times calls it one of the original’s names, Leafly a cross of Sour Diesel and an unknown strain3,2350 results excluded24
NYC DieselSoma Seeds’ strain; Leafly lists Mexican × Afghani landraces and gives “NYC Sour Diesel” as an alias26,27Not counted as Sour Diesel24
Super Sour DieselA separate strain: Super Silver Haze × Sour Diesel, per Leafly8153 results excluded24
Purple Sour DieselSour Diesel × Purple Kush, per Leafly1198 results excluded24
Lemon Sour DieselLost Coast OG × California Sour from Green Lantern Seeds, per Leafly; no Sour Diesel in its listed lineage2846 results excluded24

Excluded results are counted before de-duplication and across product types.24

Is the Sour Diesel you buy the real one?

Not always the same plant. Leafly’s lab partners found three chemotypes sold under the name, led by limonene, terpinolene or myrcene, and Leafly’s explanation is that not all growers are growing the same Sour Diesel.29 The original AJ cut circulated as clones and stayed scarce for years, according to Barney’s Farm, and SeedFinder says the original was never sold as feminized seed.15,18

Our lab data fits that picture: the leading terpenes by median are β-caryophyllene, limonene and β-myrcene, and terpinolene’s mean (0.05%) sits well above its median (0.01%), a sign that a minority of samples carry much more of it.24 We also excluded 2,304 results (all product types, counted before de-duplication) sold under related names, the largest group being "Sour Diesel x Island Sweet Skunk" (298).24

Strains bred from Sour Diesel

StrainCrossSource
HeadbandOG Kush × Sour DieselLeafly6
Sour AppleSour Diesel × Cinderella 99Leafly7
Super Sour DieselSuper Silver Haze × Sour DieselLeafly8
Sour TangieEast Coast Sour Diesel × Tangie (DNA Genetics)Leafly9
Sour JackSour Diesel × Jack HererLeafly10
Purple Sour DieselSour Diesel × Purple KushLeafly11
Platinum Sour DieselSour Diesel × Platinum OGLeafly30
Sour PowerStarBud × East Coast Sour Diesel (HortiLab Seeds); Leafly calls it a three-time Cannabis Cup winnerLeafly31

Leafly lists Sour Apple in turn as a parent of Apple Fritter (a reported cross of Sour Apple and Animal Cookies), #7 in Leafly’s 2025 orders; Cinderella 99 has its own guide in the Official Cannabis network at cinderella99.com. SeedFinder counts 629 direct descendants of the Sour Diesel it lists under the breeder “Unknown or Legendary.”18,32,33

Sources

  1. Leafly, Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  2. AllBud, Sour Diesel marijuana strain information and reviews. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  3. High Times, 25 years of Chem Dog (2016-09-07). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  4. Weedmaps, Sour Diesel strain page. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  5. Leafly, Super Skunk strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  6. Leafly, Headband strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  7. Leafly, Sour Apple strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  8. Leafly, Super Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  9. Leafly, Sour Tangie strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  10. Leafly, Sour Jack strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  11. Leafly, Purple Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  12. Leafly, Chemdawg strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  13. Crop King Seeds, Sour Diesel feminized marijuana seeds. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  14. DNA Genetics, Sour Diesel cannabis strain: a legendary sativa with electric energy (2025-06-05). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  15. Barney's Farm, Sour Diesel strain: the East Coast strain that took over America (2026-05-21). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  16. Weedmaps, Chemdog and 7 strains that come from it (2021-01-28). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  17. Leaf Nation, Cannthropology: Chemdog (2026-03-04). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  18. SeedFinder, Sour Diesel (Unknown or Legendary). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  19. Royal Queen Seeds, Sour Diesel feminized cannabis seeds. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  20. SeedFinder, Sour Diesel (Reserva Privada). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  21. Humboldt Seed Organization, Sour Diesel #2 (feminized seeds). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  22. High Times, The High Times interview: Top Dawg Seeds (2016-10-12). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  23. Leafly, AJ's Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  24. Cannlytics (CC BY 4.0), cannabis_results: public state lab results (filtered and aggregated by Official Cannabis). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  25. Leafly, ECSD (East Coast Sour Diesel) strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  26. SeedFinder, NYC Diesel (Soma Seeds). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  27. Leafly, NYC Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  28. Leafly, Lemon Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  29. Leafly, Are you smoking the 'real' Sour Diesel strain? (2020-07-28). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  30. Leafly, Platinum Sour Diesel strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  31. Leafly, Sour Power strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  32. Leafly, Apple Fritter strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  33. Leafly, The best-selling weed strains of 2025. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.