The history of Tropicana Cherry

Timeline

1. 1990sTangerine Dream is sought after; Tangie, a California Orange × Skunk-1 sativa that Leafly calls a remake of it, later becomes a parent of Tropicana Cookies.^6,7
2. Late 1990sThe breeder known as Relentless holds a collection of rare clone-only cuts. Relentless Genetics, a group of growers from the southern United States, later works from the Colorado mountains.¹
3. 2019California breeder Blockhead names a Black Cherry Punch × Tropicana Cookies cross “Blockberry”; a Michigan grower later selects it as Super Boof, which shares Tropicana Cookies as a parent with Tropicana Cherry.⁸
4. Jul 15, 2020Denver dispensary The Herbal Cure announces second place in the hybrid category of Rooster Magazine’s THC Classic with Tropicana Cherries, “bred by Relentless Genetics”.^3,4
5. Aug 2020The earliest of the 265 state lab tests of Tropicana Cherry flower in our dataset, from Michigan.⁹
6. Jun 27, 2022High Times names the winners of the Cannabis Cup Michigan: People’s Choice Edition, judged with kits offered at more than 30 dispensaries: FLWRpot’s “Tropicana Cherry” wins adult-use hybrid flower and Kai Cannabis’s “Tropicanna Cherry” places second.^5,10
7. Oct 11, 2023Skunk magazine runs a grower’s strain report on Relentless Genetics’ Tropicana Cherry: a 65-day finish and dark purple buds that keep their color after curing.¹¹
8. 2024Super Boof, Tropicana Cherry’s relative through Tropicana Cookies, is Leafly’s Strain of the Year.⁸
9. 2020–2024The 265 state lab tests of Tropicana Cherry flower in our dataset date from these years, 138 of them from 2022 and 49.4% from Michigan.⁹
10. Oct 4, 2026104 stores within 50 miles of Los Angeles list Tropicana Cherry flower on Weedmaps; 25 of 27 markets have at least one.¹²

Why it spread

It looks and smells the part. Leafly’s description leads with “dank tangerines and cherry” and “a functional daytime high”, growers single out its purple color, and The Herbal Cure said it “smells pretty much like the beach”.^3,11,13 Breeders took it up too: SeedFinder counts 58 direct descendants, including two from Sensi Seeds, and Relentless crossed it into Queen of the South and a backcross of its own.^14,15,16

Michigan took to it early: the earliest dated test in our lab records is from there, 49.4% of all tests come from there, and it won its people’s-choice cup there in 2022.^5,9

The disputed parts of the story

• Which Tropicana Cookies: Bloom Seed Co’s (Leafly; SeedFinder’s description), “Cookies Fam’s” (Weedmaps) or a second generation (SeedFinder’s family tree).^4,7,14
• What is in Cherry Cookies: Cherry Pie × Cookies F2 (Leafly), Cherry Pie × GSC (SeedFinder’s description, Prime Cuts Nursery) or GSC × a Fire OG backcross (SeedFinder’s family tree); see genetics.^14,17,18
• When: no source we found gives the year Relentless made the cross; the earliest dated record is The Herbal Cure’s July 2020 THC Classic placing.³
• The name Tropicana Cherries: Weedmaps lists it as another name for this strain, while SeedFinder records a separate Relentless “Tropicana Cherries” as a parent of Diamond Rock Genetics’ Blood Diamond.^4,14