Chem D is rubbery, chemical, raunchy funk. She’s the one people mean when they talk about gas. If you’ve smoked anything with serious chemical stink in the last twenty years, there’s a good chance she’s somewhere in the family tree.
She’s been in my garden since 2006.
Chem D vs Chemdog 91 at a glance
| Chemdog 91 | Chem D | |
| Where from | Both from the same thirteen seeds found in flower sent to Greg from Colorado after the 1991 Deer Creek show |
| Sisters, not versions | Two different plants out of that batch. Never the same plant, never a renamed one |
| Smell and taste | Chemdog 91: skunky, lemony | Chem D: rubbery, chemical, raunchy funk |
| Build | Chemdog 91: the clone-only female Skunk VA has held since 1995 | Chem D: more indica lean, thicker branching, heavier resin, better yield |
| How Skunk VA got her | Chemdog 91: in his hands since 1995, never from Greg | Chem D: traded from Greg in New York in 2006, for a couple of Chemdog 91 clones |
| Sex | Both are females. Neither sister is ever the stud. The stud in every cross here is the Bx2 or Bx3 male bred down from the Chemdog 91 cut |
| Where to buy | Chemdog 91 SKVA clone | Chem D clone | both together in Dog Patch seeds |
Nobody knows what she came from
This is the part most write-ups get wrong, so I’ll put it first.
Chem D has two parents, same as every seed. Nobody knows what they were. Seeds do not appear on their own. Two plants made her, and nobody was there to write down which two. She’s a plant grown from seed, picked out and kept, the same way Chemdog 91 is a plant grown from seed and kept.
Both came out of the same handful of seeds.
Where those seeds came from
In 1991 Greg bought an ounce of Dogbud at a Grateful Dead show at Deer Creek, Indiana. That meeting was the start of it. They swapped contacts, and more flower was sent to him from Colorado after that. The seeds were found in that lot. Thirteen of them.
Everything downstream of that, the whole fuel-forward side of modern cannabis, came off those thirteen seeds.
How she’s different from Chem 91
People mix these two up constantly, so let me be clear about it. They are not the same plant. Same thirteen seeds, different plants, and they went in completely different directions.
Chem 91 runs skunky and lemony.
Chem D goes rubbery and chemical, kind of raunchy. You either love that right away or you need a minute with it.
She also builds differently. A little more indica lean, noticeably thicker branching, and heavier resin than her sisters. That resin is why she became the parent breeders reached for when they wanted gas.
How I got her
I flew to New York in 2006 and traded Greg a couple of my Chemdog 91 clones. I went for the Chem Sister. He gave me the Chem D instead.
She’s been here ever since. That’s the part I can tell you first-hand, because I was the one on the plane.
How she grows
Beginner-friendly. There’s not much to get wrong with her.
Flowering: 63 to 70 days.
Yield is better than her sisters. The thicker branching gives you a sturdier frame that holds weight without much support, and the resin comes with it.
No pheno hunt. This is a clone, not a seed pack. There’s no variation to select through. Every plant is the same plant, the one that came home from New York.
What you’ll read elsewhere
Chem D turns up on most of the strain databases, and the entries don’t always match the plant.
You’ll see flowering times shorter than what I get. Some list her finishing in eight weeks. Mine runs 63 to 70 days. You’ll see her listed with two parents named, as though somebody knows. Nobody does. You’ll see height figures and potency numbers I’ve never published and won’t.
You’ll also read that she wasn’t among the first plants popped from that batch. As the story goes, four seeds went in back in 1991, one was male and got tossed, and the three that grew were the 91, the A and the B. The account has the rest of the seeds sitting for about ten years before three more went in around 2001, labelled C, D and E, with the D being the one worth keeping.
I wasn’t there for any of that, so I’m not going to tell you it happened one way or the other. What I can tell you is what she is in my room.
Hear it from me, not from a forum
I have told this story out loud more than once, with dates and names, and you can check it against what I write here. The Pot Cast, episode 2 (2016), The Pot Cast, episode 82 (2023), James Loud Podcast, episode 16 and James Loud Podcast, episode 116. The long-running thread is on ICMag, going back years, with the growers who have run these cuts.
Common questions
What is Chem D crossed with?
Nobody knows. She grew from one of the thirteen seeds found in that 1991 lot, so two plants made her the same as any seed. Nobody recorded which two, and anyone naming them is guessing.
Are Chem D and Chem 91 the same plant?
No. They’re sisters from the same thirteen seeds, and they’re very different plants. Chem 91 is skunky and lemony. Chem D is rubbery, chemical and raunchy.
How long does Chem D take to flower?
63 to 70 days.
Is Chem D good for beginners?
Yes. There’s not much to get wrong with her.
What does Chem D smell and taste like?
Pungent chemical fuel with a sharp diesel edge. Rubbery and raunchy underneath.
What are the effects of Chem D?
Fuel-forward and potent, with a euphoric lift.
What does Chem D yield?
Better than her sisters. Thicker branching, more sites, and heavier resin.
Can you get Chem D in seed form?
Not on her own. Dog Patch is Chem ‘D’ crossed back to the Chemdog 91 Bx2, the two sisters put back together, and it’s the only seed line in the catalog carrying her. 13 regular seeds a pack.
Where did Lucky Dog get the Chem D?
From Greg, in New York, in 2006, traded for a couple of Chemdog 91 clones.
Getting her
The Chem D clone is the plant itself. Clone only, limited. If you’d rather hunt through seed, Dog Patch is where she lives, and Modified Chem carries her funk through the GMO side. Chemdog 91 is her sister and the cut everything here is built on.
Every cross on the Chemdog seeds page runs back to the same Chemdog 91 Bx3 stud.