Is Rainbow Runtz indica or sativa? Its genetics and family tree

Is it related to Runtz?

Usually, but not always. Leafly says Runtz is made by Cookies Fam by crossing Zkittlez with Gelato and was popularized by the Runtz crew helmed by Yung LB out of Long Beach; it was Leafly’s Strain of the Year in 2020, and Leafly counts at least 20 variations of it.⁹ Runtz is a parent in the Wizard Trees, Exotic Genetix, Philosopher Seeds and Nugs 420 versions of Rainbow Runtz and in Hypno Seeds’ autoflower, but not in the Zkittlez × Do-Si-Dos account, and Growers Choice says the strain’s ties to the original Runtz have not been confirmed and that it does not seem to have clear ties to the Runtz brand.^1,3,4,5,13

Zkittlez, a parent of Runtz and of the original account, is now filed on Leafly as The Original Z: its growers adopted that name in 2023 as part of a settlement with a candy company over alleged trademark infringement.¹⁶

The parents named most often

Zkittlez (The Original Z) is an indica hybrid that Leafly describes as an alleged Grape Ape × Grapefruit cross with another undisclosed strain; it came to market in the 2010s and won 1st place at the 2016 Emerald Cup. Do-Si-Dos is an indica-dominant hybrid of a GSC phenotype and Face Off OG.^16,17

RS11, or Rainbow Sherbert #11, is a Pink Guava × Sunset Sherbert hybrid bred by Deo Farms of Oakland and selected by Wizard Trees of Los Angeles; Leafly says many US cultivators were growing it in 2023.⁸ Rainbow Chip is Exotic Genetix’s Sunset Sherbert × Mint Chocolate Chip from its 2018 Mint Chocolate Chip lineup, and Kush Mints, Philosopher Seeds’ second parent, is Animal Mints × Bubba Kush.^3,18,19

How indica is it?

Labels disagree. AllBud lists 50% indica / 50% sativa and Weedmaps simply says hybrid; Leafly files Rainbow Runtz under indica and rates its effects mostly calming, while its description calls the effects of modern Rainbow Runtz hybrid.^1,2,6 Among seed versions, Hypno Seeds’ autoflower is 60% indica / 40% sativa, Philosopher Seeds gives no split, and Growers Choice says the plants typically look indica-dominant.^3,5,13

Clones, seeds and numbered cuts

Wizard Trees sells its version as flower under the Rainbow RZ name, and SeedFinder lists feminized seeds of it; Exotic Genetix lists its feminized Rainbow Runtz as retired and out of stock.^7,10,14 SeedFinder counts five breeders’ versions, all feminized, and GrowDiaries lists six seed products, from Exotic Genetix, Growers Choice, Hypno Seeds, Philosopher Seeds, CopyCat Genetics and Premium Cultivars.^20,21

Numbered names turn up in our lab data too: 12 of the 77 tests carry a number after the name, such as "Rainbow Runtz 6", "Rainbow Runtz 2" and "Rainbow Runtz #05". They count as Rainbow Runtz because our matcher treats bare numbers as lot codes; the labels do not say whether the numbers mark phenotypes or batches.²²