Key Lime Pie Strain

Key Lime Pie Strain: The Lime-Scented Cookies Cut

The Key Lime Pie strain is a phenotype of Girl Scout Cookies — one specific plant picked out of the Cookies family because it smelled unmistakably of lime. That makes its roots the same as GSC's: OG Kush × Durban Poison. What sets it apart is the nose — sweet lime and citrus up top, mint and candy in the middle, chocolate and earthy spice on the exhale — and a high that leans relaxed, happy and, at a full dose, sleepy. For dessert-side flower you can actually buy today, start with our THCA flower collection.

Here's the catch: "phenotype of GSC" doesn't make it just another name for GSC. Key Lime Pie has its own name, its own breeder listings, its own flavor and its own following — the same way Thin Mints and Platinum Cookies do. But sources disagree on who bred it, how indica it is, how strong it runs and even whether Cherry Pie belongs in the family tree. Below: what the databases actually say, how the high unfolds, what the potency numbers mean, how it compares with its cousins, how to grow it and how to judge a bag.

Key Lime Pie Strain Genetics & Lineage

• Type: Indica-leaning hybrid. Leafly files it as a hybrid; AllBud and I Love Growing Marijuana call it 75% indica / 25% sativa; SeedFinder says "mostly indica"; one Vermont dispensary, Theory Wellness, calls it balanced.
• What it is: A selected phenotype of GSC (Girl Scout Cookies), not a fresh cross. Leafly, AllBud, Weedmaps and SeedFinder all describe it that way — SeedFinder's words are "a gourmet phenotype of Girl Scout Cookie."
• Parents: Leafly and Weedmaps list OG Kush and Durban Poison — which is GSC's own pedigree, since a phenotype inherits its mother line's parents. Willamette Week's 2017 review gives the same pairing and calls it an "elite GSC cut."
• Breeder: SeedFinder, GrowDiaries and Leafwell credit Burning Bush Nurseries, a California outfit. Weedmaps also describes a Purple Caper Seeds version. Theory Wellness credits Mountain Grown VT — most likely the grower of its batch rather than the originator.
• Aliases: Key Lime Cookies and Key Lime GSC (Leafly, Theory Wellness). Not to be confused with Key Lime Kush or Key Limeade, which are different plants.
• CBD: negligible — GrowDiaries lists 0.1%. Leafly lists 1% CBG.

What "phenotype of GSC" actually means

When a breeder pops a pack of seeds, every plant is a little different — taller or shorter, more purple or more green, sweeter or gassier. Each of those expressions is a phenotype. Growers keep the standouts alive as clones and give them names. GSC produced several famous ones: Thin Mint, Platinum and the "Forum Cut" among them. Key Lime Pie is the one that came out tasting like lime. Willamette Week's 2017 review notes it's said to be clone-only, with some breeders trying to capture it in seed form — which is how a Burning Bush version and a Purple Caper version can both exist under one name.

The Cherry Pie question

Vivosun's grow guide and Leafwell list Cherry Pie alongside OG Kush and Durban Poison, and Leafwell adds that "some sources" suggest Sour Diesel, OG Kush and Granddaddy Purple instead. Neither cites a breeder. Cherry Pie is a Granddaddy Purple × Durban Poison cross, so it shares a Durban grandparent with GSC — that's likely where the confusion comes from. Leafly, Weedmaps, SeedFinder and the 2017 Willamette Week review don't include Cherry Pie. We go with the GSC pedigree and treat Cherry Pie as unverified.

Key Lime Pie's offspring

Leafly lists two children, Limelight and Chili Verde. SeedFinder records one direct descendant of the Burning Bush cut — Umami Seed Co's Key Limeade, a Sunset Sherbet × Key Lime Pie cross. And over in Spain, The Grateful Seeds used a Key Lime Pie cut to make their version of Guava Cake (Guava IX × Key Lime Pie), which is why some Guava Cake seed packs smell faintly of lime custard.

Key Lime Pie Terpene Profile

Leafly lists caryophyllene as Key Lime Pie's dominant terpene, followed by limonene and myrcene. GrowDiaries names caryophyllene too, and Vivosun and Leafwell list the same three. Willamette Week's reviewer mentions "reportedly high myrcene content" but gives no number — and none of the sources we found publish measured terpene percentages. That's the classic Cookies-family stack: pepper and spice from caryophyllene, a citrus lift from limonene, and earthy, musky body from myrcene. Caryophyllene is the one with real research behind it: a 2008 PNAS study identified beta-caryophyllene as a "dietary cannabinoid" that binds CB2 receptors.

• Caryophyllene: The dominant terpene per Leafly. It brings the pepper and spice under the lime, and it's a big part of why the finish reads chocolatey and earthy rather than purely fruity.
• Limonene: The citrus. No terpene on its own is "lime," but limonene is the bright, zesty backbone of the nose and part of the quick mood lift reviewers describe.
• Myrcene: Earthy and musky, and the terpene strain guides most often tie to heavy, sleepy effects — which fits Key Lime Pie's evening reputation. Vivosun links it to the sedation, though that link isn't well proven.

The mint that many reviewers taste likely comes from the same blend that gives Thin Mint its cool edge. If you like that menthol-over-citrus effect, the pinene and linalool pages are worth a look too — they show up in many of the Cookies cousins.

Appearance

AllBud describes dense, green, furry buds with traces of purple and a resinous coating. I Love Growing Marijuana and Leafwell describe small-to-medium, nugget-shaped, bright green buds heavily coated in frost, with purple that comes out when the plant runs cool late in flower. Willamette Week's 2017 review saw deep evergreen sugar leaves over a citron-green core with a yellowish coat of trichomes, and one Leafly reviewer called the buds "camo-colored" with light brown pistils. Expect olive-to-lime green, purple patches if it was grown cold, light orange-brown hairs and a heavy white frost.

Aroma and Flavor

Break a nug and you get sweet lime first — sugared, sharp and a little sour, as Willamette Week put it. Then mint and candy, then a chocolatey, earthy, spicy base that's pure Cookies. The sources line up well here:

• Leafly: lime, mint and citrus, with spice, earth and chocolate on the exhale. One reviewer smelled grapefruit, lime and orange.
• AllBud: chocolate, lime, mint and sweet on the nose — "chocolate cream" — with a minty, candy-like flavor and a smoky lime aftertaste.
• Weedmaps: user flavor tags of lime (42%), sweet (30%) and citrus (27%).
• GrowDiaries: sweet candied lime and citrus with hints of mint and chocolate; a creamy, minty-chocolatey aroma.

One Leafly reviewer says it tastes "just like eating actual Key Lime Pie, but a lot less calories." That's the selling point — and it's also why AllBud reviewers warn the sweetness can feel like a lot for an all-day smoke.

Recreational Effects

Key Lime Pie is a wind-down strain with a cheerful head. On Leafly, where it holds a 4.5 rating from about 400 reviews, the top effects are:

• Relaxed: the headline. Reviewers describe being mellowed out and melting into the couch.
• Happy: a real mood lift, often with laughter — Leafwell calls it giggly.
• Tingly: a light body buzz that I Love Growing Marijuana also mentions.
• Euphoric and sociable: per AllBud, which also describes a "clear, mellow high" with some focus and creativity early on.
• Sleepy: at higher doses. Leafly reviewers call it "heavy hitting, hazy and sleep-inducing" and "great for night night." Others found a mild, low-fog dose fine in the daytime.

How the high unfolds: onset, peak and duration

• First 5–15 minutes: a fast cerebral lift and mood boost, per Vivosun and I Love Growing Marijuana. AllBud reviewers disagree, describing a delayed onset that tempts people to overdo it — so wait before the second bowl.
• 15–60 minutes: the peak — happy, euphoric and loose, with the body settling.
• 1–3 hours: a long, heavy relaxation. Vivosun puts the total at 2–3 hours; one Leafly reviewer says "the high lasts for hours." At a full dose, expect couch-lock.

Willamette Week's reviewer called it "a relatively even marriage of relaxed muscles and improved mood" — and suggested it may be too sleepy for the daytime. That matches most of the reviews: late afternoon or evening.

→ Experience it yourself — shop Diesel Hemp's THCA Flower

How Strong Is Key Lime Pie?

Key Lime Pie runs above average — a typical Cookies-family number, not a record-breaker. The published figures:

• Leafly: 20% THC, "higher THC than average," plus 1% CBG.
• AllBud: 22% in the header, 19–22% in the description; users report jars up to 28.9%.
• GrowDiaries: about 25% THC, 0.1% CBD.
• Vivosun: about 22–25%. I Love Growing Marijuana says 16–22%.
• Willamette Week (one tested jar, 2017): 26.62% THC.

JointCommerce reports dispensary labels anywhere from 11% to 38%, which mostly tells you how loosely the name gets used. A well-grown cut realistically lands around 20–26%. Several reviewers say small buds "pack a punch," and the delayed onset AllBud mentions makes it easy to take too much — go slow.

THCA flower is labeled differently from dispensary flower: the lab reports THCA, which converts to THC when heated, plus a small amount of delta-9 THC. When you compare a batch of Key Lime Pie against the 16–27% range above, compare total THC on the COA, not the headline number — our guide on how to read a THCA flower COA walks through the math.

Why Is It Called Key Lime Pie?

The name is the nose: sweet, tart lime over a creamy, cookie-crust base, like the Florida dessert. Willamette Week says it was named for its lime scent. The "Pie" also nods to the dessert-naming habit of the Cookies era, and it's why you'll see the same plant sold as Key Lime Cookies or Key Lime GSC — names that make the GSC roots obvious. JointCommerce notes some sellers use "Key Lime Cookies" for a lime-heavy Key Lime Pie cut, while others use it for crosses, so read the label and the COA, not just the name. We couldn't find a documented year or the person who first selected the cut.

Is Key Lime Pie the Same as GSC?

Close family, not the same jar. Key Lime Pie comes out of GSC's seed line, so on paper it has the same OG Kush × Durban Poison parents. But a phenotype is a different plant with its own chemistry. GSC is famous for sweet, earthy dough and a fairly balanced high; Key Lime Pie swaps a lot of that for lime and mint and leans heavier and sleepier. Think of it the way you'd think of Thin Mints — a named member of the family with a personality of its own.

Key Lime Pie vs Similar Strains

• vs GSC: the mother line. GSC is sweet earth and dough with a balanced high; Key Lime Pie is the citrus-mint version with more body.
• vs Thin Mints: the sibling cut. Thin Mints leans mint and cookie dough with a euphoric start; Key Lime Pie adds the lime and runs sleepier.
• vs Platinum Cookies: another named Cookies selection, frostier-looking and more earthy-sweet, without the lime.
• vs Cherry Pie: the strain some guides wrongly put in Key Lime Pie's tree. Both share a Durban grandparent, but Cherry Pie runs tart cherry and a more balanced high.
• vs Lemon Meringue: if you want the citrus-pie idea in a brighter, more upbeat package, Lemon Meringue is the daytime cousin in flavor terms.
• vs Lemon Cherry Gelato: our featured in-stock pick, and honestly not a twin. Both come from the GSC family and pair bright citrus with dessert sweetness and a relaxed finish, but LCG runs cherry and lemon where Key Lime Pie runs lime, mint and chocolate. For more mint on the exhale, our Straw Gua Mintz is the Kush Mints-side option.

Who Key Lime Pie Is (and Isn't) For

Good fit: evening smokers, people who want to unwind after work, citrus-and-dessert flavor fans, and anyone who liked GSC or Thin Mints but wanted something more relaxing.

Poor fit: people who need to stay sharp and productive, and true beginners — the delayed onset and high THC can catch you off guard. For a citrus-dessert, Cookies-family flower on our shelf, Lemon Cherry Gelato is the pick, from $69 for a half ounce.

How to Use Key Lime Pie THCA Flower — and How Much

THCA has to be heated to do anything. Raw, it isn't intoxicating; heat converts it to THC (decarboxylation), which is why the method matters as much as the strain.

• Smoking (joint, pipe, bong): the fastest onset. Take one or two small hits, then wait 10–15 minutes before deciding on more.
• Dry-herb vaporizer: the best way to taste the lime. Lower temperatures, around 350–375°F, keep the citrus and mint bright; 390–410°F brings out the chocolate, spice and heavier body.
• Pre-rolls: the no-prep option — see our THCA pre-rolls.
• Homemade edibles: decarb the flower first. Edibles take 30–120 minutes to kick in and last far longer, so start low and wait the full two hours.

How much? New or occasional users: one small hit, then wait a full 15–20 minutes — reviewers say it creeps. Regular users usually find two or three hits enough for the relaxed peak. A small ceramic one-hitter is a good way to keep the dose honest. You can always add more; you can't take it back.

Medicinal Benefits

These are uses consumers report on Leafly, AllBud and GrowDiaries, not established clinical outcomes. Individual response varies with dose, tolerance and chemotype.

• Stress: the top reason on Leafly, at about 27% of reviewers.
• Pain: about 25% of Leafly reviewers; AllBud and GrowDiaries also list chronic pain and inflammation, and one reviewer used it after carpal tunnel surgery.
• Depression and low mood: about 23% of Leafly reviewers.
• Insomnia: listed by AllBud and GrowDiaries, and consistent with the many "great for sleep" reviews.
• Anxiety, headaches and PTSD: also listed by AllBud and GrowDiaries. Anxiety is a two-way street — some users report paranoia at high doses.

For a plain-language primer on how terpenes are thought to shape these effects, see Project CBD on terpenes. Nothing here is medical advice, and nothing on this page is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you take prescription medication or have a health condition, talk to your doctor before using any cannabis product.

Side Effects and Cautions

• Dry mouth and dry eyes — the most common complaints on Leafly and GrowDiaries.
• Dizziness — Leafly's third most-reported negative.
• Paranoia or anxiety — rare, mostly with overuse, per I Love Growing Marijuana.
• Overdoing it — AllBud reviewers warn the delayed onset leads people to take too much.

Is Key Lime Pie good for sleep? For many people, yes — at a full dose it gets heavy. That also means don't drive after using it, and talk to your doctor first if you take prescription medication, are pregnant or nursing, or have a heart condition.

Is Key Lime Pie Top Shelf? How to Judge a Good Bag

• Smell for lime first. A real Key Lime Pie cut leads with sweet, tart lime and mint. If it smells like generic earthy Cookies, it may be a GSC jar wearing a dessert name.
• A current third-party COA naming the lab, with THCA, delta-9 and total THC. Labels range from 11% to 38% for this name, so the paperwork matters. Ours are on the lab results page.
• Dense, frosty nugs — small to medium, heavy for their size, with a thick white coat. Purple patches are a plus, not a requirement.
• Ask which cut. Burning Bush, Purple Caper and seed-grown "Key Lime" crosses can all show up under this name.
• A proper cure — hay or grass smell means it was rushed, and the lime is the first thing to fade.

Growing Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie is mostly passed around as a clone, though seed versions exist. Sources split on difficulty — Leafwell calls it fairly easy, I Love Growing Marijuana says it needs some experience.

• Flowering: 9–10 weeks for the Burning Bush cut (SeedFinder says about 67 days; Weedmaps 63–70 days). Weedmaps lists 56–63 days for the Purple Caper version. GrowDiaries averages about 66 days.
• Outdoors: harvest from early to mid-October in a warm, Mediterranean-type climate.
• Yield: Vivosun says 400–500 g/m² indoors and up to 600 g per plant outdoors; I Love Growing Marijuana says 10–12 oz per square meter indoors.
• Color: dropping night temperatures about 10 degrees late in flower brings out the purple, per Vivosun and I Love Growing Marijuana. Leafly notes cool temperatures can also stretch the flowering time.
• Training: top early and use a screen (SCROG) to keep the canopy even; lower the humidity in flower to avoid bud rot in the dense colas.

Is Key Lime Pie THCA Flower Legal?

Under the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp is federally legal when it contains no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis — see the USDA hemp program. THCA flower is sold under that rule. State laws differ and are changing, so check your state before you order. And whatever the label says, THCA flower will show up on a drug test — heated, it is THC.

Shop Premium Flower at Diesel Hemp

• Lemon Cherry Gelato THCA Flower — our featured pick — GSC-family citrus dessert with a happy, relaxed finish, from $69 for a half ounce.
• THCA Flower — the full lineup, grown in Colorado by Diesel Hemp and partner farms.
• THCA Pre-Rolls — the same flower, pre-rolled.
• THCA Small Buds — same genetics, smaller nugs, better price per gram.
• What THCA flower actually is — the encyclopedia explainer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Key Lime Pie indica or sativa?

Key Lime Pie is an indica-leaning hybrid. Leafly files it as a hybrid, AllBud says 75% indica / 25% sativa, and SeedFinder says mostly indica. Most people use it in the evening.

What is Key Lime Pie a cross of?

It isn't a new cross — it's a phenotype of Girl Scout Cookies, so its parents are GSC's: OG Kush × Durban Poison, per Leafly and Weedmaps. Some guides add Cherry Pie, but no breeder-linked source supports that.

Is Key Lime Pie the same as GSC?

No. It comes from the GSC line, but it's a separately named plant with a lime-and-mint nose and a heavier, sleepier high. It's a sibling of Thin Mints and Platinum Cookies, not another name for GSC.

Who bred Key Lime Pie?

SeedFinder and GrowDiaries credit Burning Bush Nurseries in California. Purple Caper Seeds sells its own version, and we couldn't find who first selected the cut.

Is Key Lime Pie the same as Key Lime Cookies?

Usually. Leafly lists Key Lime Cookies and Key Lime GSC as aliases. Some sellers also use 'Key Lime Cookies' for crosses, so check the COA.

How strong is Key Lime Pie?

Leafly lists 20% THC, AllBud 19–22%, GrowDiaries about 25%, and one jar tested at 26.62% in a 2017 Willamette Week review. It's above average for flower.

What does Key Lime Pie taste like?

Sweet lime and citrus up front, then mint and candy, with a chocolatey, earthy, spicy exhale. One Leafly reviewer says it tastes just like the dessert.

What are the effects of Key Lime Pie?

Leafly reviewers report relaxed, happy and tingly effects. AllBud adds euphoric and sociable, and many reviewers say it turns sleepy at higher doses.

Is Key Lime Pie good for sleep?

For many people, yes. Leafly reviewers call it sleep-inducing and great for night, and it's usually recommended for late afternoon or evening.

What terpenes are in Key Lime Pie?

Leafly lists caryophyllene as dominant, followed by limonene and myrcene. No source we found publishes measured percentages.

How long does Key Lime Pie take to flower?

About 9–10 weeks for the Burning Bush cut (SeedFinder says around 67 days). Weedmaps lists 56–63 days for the Purple Caper version.

Where can I buy Key Lime Pie THCA flower online?

Key Lime Pie isn't in the Diesel Hemp shop right now. Our closest everyday pick is Lemon Cherry Gelato THCA Flower — a GSC-family citrus dessert with a happy, relaxed finish, from $69 for a half ounce, third-party lab tested. It runs cherry and lemon rather than lime and mint. Add a pre-roll to ship free over $75.

Related Strains

• GSC (Girl Scout Cookies) — the mother line Key Lime Pie was selected from.
• Thin Mints — the sibling GSC cut — mint and cookie dough.
• OG Kush — one half of the GSC pedigree.
• Durban Poison — the other half — the sativa side of the family.
• Platinum Cookies — another named Cookies selection.
• Lemon Cherry Gelato — our GSC-family citrus dessert pick in stock.
• Sunset Sherbet — the other parent of Key Lime Pie's child, Key Limeade.
• Guava Cake — one version is Guava IX × Key Lime Pie.
• Cherry Pie — the pie strain some guides wrongly add to its tree.
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