David Downs’ sickest weed genetics picks of 2025

Sure, it’s the cold winter of our discontent, but take heart— the Earth has begun tracking back toward the sun, and the days grow longer again.

Start dreaming today of a dank pound or two come Thanksgiving, then start sourcing your seeds and clones, sketching a gardening plan, and calendaring your harvest.

I know I am. As Leafly News’ senior editor and co-author of the best-selling book ‘Marijuana Harvest,’ I pop beans, soak up strain trends, as well as judge and report on award-winners.

Now it’s again time to wring out all that knowledge to help you plant some winners. Here are over 50 sick genetics picks in 6 categories that we’d be stoked to garden with you.

Candies

We lead off with the flavor that controls the market coast to coast—dubbed ‘candies’ for their candy sweetness, but also their full-bodied dankness often referred to as ‘gas’. Based around Lemon Cherry Gelato and kin, these indica hybrids sell themselves, and keep the commercial market humming.

Compound Genetics

Chrome Dome (Lemonheadz x Eye Candy). Compound Genetics adds more flavor to its blingiest buds. “The nose leans towards sweet lemon zest and lemon scented cleaning products with an effervescence akin to sprite.”

Exotic Genetix

Bluezy (Zoap x Blueberry Bang Bang). Washington breeder Exotic Genetix has worked the hot strain Zoap with the hot flavor trend blueberry. Exotic Genetix writes: “One of my absolute favorite looks on a flower! The colas get so dark in places that they begin to take on a crazy blue sheen. … These juicy goodies make you think you are inhaling a complex basket of different fuels, even somewhat reminiscent of very aromatic soaps to the nose.”

Purple City Genetics

G-Runtz (Pre-64 Runtz x Gush Mints). All the hype of Runtz with a much bigger yield, from the Oakland cloning powerhouse.

Tiki Madman

Jelly Rain (Jealousy x Candy Rain); Party Boy (Zoap x Z Rain). Tiki Madman dominates the sweets game and these crosses of Leafly Strain of the Year 2022 Jealousy, or 2025 Leafly Buzz Strain Zoap will make ‘em go crazy.

Phinest

Oakland Runtz #25 (Don Merfo LCG#7 x Lemon Cherry Gelato); K-Whip (Pineapple Dolomite x Shady Apples). The Sacramento clone kings at Phinest keep farmers fed with their candy selections this year.

Cannarado Genetics

Lemon Zawtz (Lemon Tree x Zawtz x Zawtz Bx1). Colorado’s biggest breeder writes “Lemon candy chem best describes this hybrid. Good yields with mouth-staining terps!”

Ethos Genetics

Lemon Cherry Pie R1 (Candy Store #25 x Cherry Pie). Colorado breeder Ethos sells this ‘reversal’ strain that has “sharp lemon upfront. Sweet cherry tones. Muted pine.”

James Loud Genetics

Permanent Midnight (Permanent Marker x Double Lemon Cherry) from this Hayward, CA breeder includes Leafly Strain of the Year 2023.

Crockett Family Farms

Tap into the Trop Cherry wave that helped power Super Boof to Leafly Strain of the Year 2024. Get Crockett’s Blood Cherry (Blood Orange x Trop Cherry) crosses like Cherry Clem (Clementine x Blood Cherry), and Fruity Loopz (Clementine x Blood Cherry).

Happy Dreams

Cherrilicious (Cherry Frosting x Cherry GAS). The masses love cherries and award-winning Happy Dreams contributes to filling that need.

Desserts

When we say ‘Desserts’ we mean Girl Scout Cookies-related strains, which continue to dominate year after year. No grow is complete without this powerful dynasty that includes Sherbert, Gelato, Runtz, and Gary Payton. Yes, ‘desserts’ cross over with candies, but they get more doughy, cookie, and cakey.

Karma Genetics

Pink Payton (Gary Payton x Pink Runtz). Gary Payton and Runtz is a combo that cannot miss among dessert fans.

Umami Seeds

No Assist (Gary Payton x Zoda). This super-hot Southern California breeder is known for one-and-done strain releases. You’ll never see these back in stock from Umami when they sell out.

Seed Junky

Animal Tree (Lemon Tree x Animal Mints Bx1); Caribbean Breeze (Pineapple Fruz x (Biscotti x Sherb BX))

Cookies Seed Bank

Tie Die (Jealousy x Sunset Sherbet), Pink Runtz x Hollywood, Lemon Cherry Pop (Gastro Pop 5 X Double Lemon Cherry). You can’t talk about dessert strains without visiting Cookies’ very own seed bank.

Zs

The Original Z remains tough to beat on the contest circuit, but it’s just the beginning of the tropical candy taffy tastes this year.

Dying Breed Seeds

Rainboz V.S. (Rainbow Rayz x OZ Kush). These magic beans run $500 per pack, hot dayam, but they can boost you into the front of the global flavor chase spawned by the Z strain.

Hendrx Nursery

Blue Nerdz (Runtz x Zkittlez). Created by Global Genetics LA—the flavor makes up for the yield on this hype cross. See also: Gelo Belts (Gelonade x Rainbow Belts 3.0). “Has the potential to replace Gelonade for commercial farmers. Potency and yield will dictate. Great clone!”

Archive Seeds

Zsunami (Zazul #5 x Moonbow 112 F2 #60). Archive Seeds’ Fletch writes, “Just give it a couple years, and you guys will be asking about it like the Rainbow Belts!”

Clearwater Genetics

Blue Nerds crosses; Cherry Chewbanger (Sherbanger 22 x Hi Chew 27) crosses. Clearwater cleared the field of competitors with their Mai Tai line. Don’t sleep on their Blue Nerds or Sherbanger work.

Biovortex

Cherry Lime Dogz. This cross is too long to name. And noted breeder Biovortex has been refining it for 8 years. He describes “a fermented cherry cola fizz with purple pixie stick and gas that smelled and tasted like some magical ambrosia reserved only for the gods.”

Cookies Seed Bank

ZZ4 ((GG4 x Zkittlez) x Medellin).

OGs and Sours

Are you longing for old-school OG Kushes and Sour Diesels? Start hunting for them—there are plenty of options.

Karma Genetics

Sour Fire Tahoe (Fire Tahoe x Karma Sour D bx2); Hayabusa OG (Race Fuel OG x Biker Kush). Karma Genetics has some of the best sours in the world.

Rebel Grown

Double OG Sour F5. Rebel Grown has won a ton of awards with this cross of OG and Sour, now in its fifth generation of selections.

Archive Seeds

Holy Roller (Big Sur Holy Weed x Face Off OG); Duct Tape (GG4 x Dosidos). Gas and sour fans, strap in for Archive’s undeniably elite crosses of Face Off OG, or GG4.

Hendrx Nursery

Tire Fire OG ((OG Kush X Triangle Kush) X San Fernando Valley OG)). Gas lovers rejoice, this one smells like ammonia, butter, chestnut, earth, fuel, garlic, kush, rubber, skunk, woody, asphalt, and burnt rubber. Hendrx writes: “Bred by Russell from ChaScience. Best OG I have seen in 15 years. So consistent. Very easy to hunt. Consistent Gas. Picked a few winners. Heavily narcotic high. This is the youngest new phenotype at HENDRX right now. Has the biggest potential.”

Ziplock Seeds

Gas Drop (Gas Face x Frosted Flakes) “Begins with strong gas notes that hit the palate with a pungent, cleaner-like aroma, followed by sharp diesel and sour undertones. … A crew favorite.”

Massive Creations

Shiloh Massive has some intriguing OG/Sour work this year with 97 Super Sour (818 Headband F4 x 97 Sierra Sour); and Kobayashi (818 Headband F4 x Marion Berry). Part of Shiloh’s new Si Lo Sabes line.

DNA Genetics

Kosher Kush. A classic, storied OG Kush that’s ready to grow.

Hashers

More and more flower goes straight into hash this year all around the world in grows big and small.

Masonic Seeds

Step into the hash game with the market-rattling bangers from Compton, CA’s Masonic Seeds. The Wilson, Banana God, and Ego Clash Bundle are all winners that don’t come cheap.

Capulator

MACV2. Revisit MAC with Capulator’s improved version. A must-add to any collection.

Biovortex

Banana Halo Halo ((Ice Cream Cake x Banana DOG) x Motor-G-nut). Selected by Yooper Crew for her extremely high hash yields. See also—Papaya Punch x G-Nut; Chemmy G.

Freeborn Selections

Turkey Bag (Animal Cookies x GMO x MeyerLemsky). Smells like turkey! “It sounds weird, but it’s so tasty. And it makes so much hash.”

Bodhi Seeds

Mule Fuel x 88G13HP. Stanky Mule Fuel and 1988 G-13 Hash Plant should yield some dank hashers.

3rd Coast Genetics

Investigate Michigan breeder’s hot ‘Black Truffle’ line with Solar Garlic (GMO x Black truffle); Rainbow in the Dark (Cadillac Rainbowz x Black Truffle); and Black Tar (Grease Monkey x Black Truffle).

Sativas

Lastly, we leave room for old-school strains that don’t yield a lot and take forever to finish. Sativas are perfect for home gardening where there’s no pressure of finishing early to make a payday.

Equilibrium Genetics

Panama Haze (Panama Red x Tom Hill Haze). A pine and floral 12-weeker that’ll warp you back to Woodstock. Panama Red is a sativa heirloom collected in Panama in the 1970s. Tom Hill Haze is a stable haze line bred in Mendocino by Tom Hill from Haze sourced in Amsterdam from Positronics Seeds in 1996.

Hendrx Nursery

XJ-13. Help bring back this big Jack variety, and put some pep in your step with XJ-13 from Northern California’s Henrdx Nursery.

Rebel Grown

Blue Dream. Grow a classic strain from a legendary breeder. Obviously not a pure sativa, but put in here with the hazes. DNA Genetics also has a Blue Dream.

TerpHogz

Red Skrrt-Banger (Skrrrt-Berry Zuava x Red Kachina 2.0). “Powerful gas, creamy citrus, and exotic funk.” This 60-40 sativa offers the latest from The Original Z crew.

And that’s my sickest genetics picks of 2025 for your weed garden, featuring over 50 flavors in 6 categories. Still, I’ve just scratched the surface, so let us know in the comments what you’re stoked to grow.