Mendo purps x Forbidden Fruit sits between Mendo Purps and Forbidden Fruit: the Mendocino purple that the whole Northern California purple catalogue leans on on one side, the Cherry Pie and Tangie cross that is all about the fruit on the other. Both parents here are cuts CSI keep in their own room. That is the whole difference between this and a seed line named after the same strains.

Mendo Purps sits on the seed side here, Forbidden Fruit on the pollen side. If you have seen these two names paired the other way round, that is a different pack and not this one.

Genetic Lineage

• Mother: Mendo Purps. The Mendocino County purple that came out of Northern California in the late nineties. The purple lines people can name mostly run back through it. Its own origin is a story rather than a pedigree - the usual account has it grown from the bagseed of a purple Afghani kept since 1977 and not planted until 1998, and no source gives a clean lineage for it. It circulated clone-only at first; BC Bud Depot later stabilised seed of it, and it took High Times Strain of the Year in 2007. It is not a heavy yielder and was never grown for that.
• Father: Forbidden Fruit. Cherry Pie crossed to Tangie - dark cherry against bright citrus. It traces back to Cherry Pie x Tangie. Rated an easy grow that does not need constant attention.
• What to expect across a pack. Two distinct parents means real variation in frame, finish and nose. Select early and take cuttings off anything you would want again.

Flavor and Aroma Profile

Two distinct smells, and a pack will give you both plus everything between.

• The Aroma. Grape-forward and fruity, with the colour to match from the Mendo Purps side, against tropical citrus over dark cherry from the Forbidden Fruit side.
• The Taste. Grape over dark berry up front, turning to cherry and passionfruit with citrus over the top through the exhale.

Where the parents disagree

• They are not on the same clock. Mendo Purps runs eight to nine weeks, with outdoor crops coming down in the middle of October; Forbidden Fruit runs nine to ten weeks indoors. Across a pack that gap shows up as plants finishing days or weeks apart.
• Two noses, one pack. Mendo Purps contributes fruity and grape-like with deep colouration. Forbidden Fruit contributes dark cherry and bright orange citrus. Which dominates is the main thing that varies.
• Two frames in one pack. Mendo Purps is slightly indica-dominant and not a big plant - three to four feet indoors, six to eight outdoors. It is not a beginner's plant: it wants training and trimming to yield properly. Forbidden Fruit is compact at eighty to a hundred and twenty centimetres indoors. Decide which suits your room before you flip, because you get both.
• Opposite ends. Mendo Purps is reported as settled rather than racy; Forbidden Fruit as indica-leaning and settling. The cross sits somewhere between and moves plant to plant.

Cultivation and Growth Traits

• Plant Structure. The two parents disagree here, so plan for range. Mendo Purps is small by modern standards and slightly indica-leaning; it needs stress training and a trim to give a worthwhile yield, which is why it is not recommended to first-time growers. Forbidden Fruit is compact and dense, colouring the way its Cherry Pie side does.
• Vegetative Phase. Top or train before you flip rather than chasing the canopy afterwards.
• Flowering Time. The parents are not on the same clock. Mendo Purps runs eight to nine weeks, with outdoor crops coming down in the middle of October, Forbidden Fruit nine to ten weeks indoors. Judge each plant on trichomes rather than pulling the room together.

Effects and Experience

• The Mind. Growers describe Mendo Purps as settled rather than racy.
• The Body. Forbidden Fruit is reported as indica-leaning and settling, and that is the side supplying the weight here.

In the pack

7 feminized seeds per pack. Feminized seeds from Humboldt CSI. Their library is clones first and crosses second, which is why the names on their packs read like a list of plants rather than a list of products. Genuine Humboldt CSI stock.