- Berry (43% of reported flavors)
- Sweet (33% of reported flavors)
- Earthy (24% of reported flavors)
Zkittlez, now commonly shortened to Z or marketed as The Original Z, is the candy-terp heavyweight associated with 3rd Gen Family and Terp Hogz. Its lineage is generally given as Grape Ape crossed with Grapefruit, though some accounts include an undisclosed third parent in the original breeding stock. Whatever is hiding in that final slot, the finished cut helped turn fruit-forward genetics into one of modern weed's dominant lanes.
Rip into a nug, and the name starts making sense. Sweet berries, grape, tropical fruit, and citrus pile together over earthy herbs and a peppery edge, creating the kind of candy-shop funk that made Z famous long before every third strain on the menu started chasing dessert terps.
Word around the dispensary is that Zkittlez keeps things mellow without immediately shutting down the headspace. The experience tends to start happy, easygoing, and mentally present before a deeper relaxation settles underneath, giving the strain considerably more balance than its indica-heavy reputation might suggest.
The flowers typically grow dense and chunky, with olive-to-light-green coloring, orange or amber pistils, occasional purple tones, and a sticky layer of trichomes. Zkittlez backed up the hype on the competition circuit, taking first-place Indica honors at the 2015 High Times Cannabis Cups in Michigan and San Francisco before winning the 2016 Emerald Cup.
Zkittlez is reportedly a compact plant that delivers high yields of dense, round, olive-green nugs, and dark, orange-to-amber stigmas in a 56-63 day flowering period.
A 2016 analysis by Phylos Bioscience performed on a cut submitted by Wonderland Nursery found moderate genetic variation.
