What is Sour Diesel?

Sour Diesel has round, medium-sized buds with leaves that appear yellowish-green. Red hairs called pistils, structures that operate to catch pollen from male plants, contrast with the densely-packed leaves. When properly cured, the flowers are somewhat sticky — the dusting of trichomes is not as immediately obvious as it is on more resinous strains like White Widow. Nevertheless, breaking open buds reveals trichomes coating the insides of the dense flowers. The buds have an overpowering smell that, true to this strain’s name, is very similar to gasoline. The odor also has some hints of orange. Breaking open or grinding the buds intensifies this scent, and adds components of musk and pine sap. Sour Diesel has a notoriously harsh, acrid smoke that can cause users to cough or make their sinuses water. The smoke has a sour and vaguely skunky taste that many describe as unpleasant; on the exhale, the diesel’s almost ammonia-like tang stings the palate and may linger for a long time afterward. Smokers trying to remain discreet should be warned that this is a very pungent strain whose odor can carry for quite a distance.

Sour Diesel Strain

Seeds of Sour Diesel are packaged and available for sale from several seed bank retailers. Growers can also raise plants as clones, taking clippings taken from fully grown plants of the same strain. Sour Diesel can be grown indoors or outdoors, although outdoor cultivation requires semi-humid, Mediterranean-like climates with daytime temperatures between 72 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The plants are more characteristically sativa than indica, with a tall, spindly appearance and large spaces between flowering nodes. Plants can grow to be over four feet tall, with their height increasing exponentially during the flowering stage. For those growing indoors, bending and pruning branches early in the vegetative stage may help train the plants to fit within limited vertical space. Sour Diesel flowers within 10 weeks when grown indoors and around early November when grown outdoors. It has a moderately high yield: growers can expect between 42 and 56 grams (or between 1.5 and 2 ounces) per square foot of plant.