It took 10 years to perfect the lemon-berry/sour grape-taste of Querkle — a cross of a female Purple Urkle cut with pollen from a Space Queen cut — according to seed bank TGA Genetics. TGA co-founder Subcool initially bred the strain in a 4-by-6-foot closet in Oregon a decade ago after obtaining an exceptional Purple Urkle clone from a grower named Sticky Lungs.

The goal with Querkle, as Subcool tells it, was to capsulize a purple Indica hybrid into seed form that could be used to create a purple line. At the time, he was working with several other purple clones -- including Mendocino Purps, GDP and Purple Skunk -- but preferred the Purple Urkle cut.

Subcool bred Querkle to replicate the mother’s Purple Urkle grape flavor while speeding growth by adding a Space Queen male. Of five resulting phenotypes, TGA kept two for their medium-to-heavy yields, distinctive grape flavor, potent lemon scent and quick growth cycle.

TGA advises that Querkle grows short and especially fast in soil -- and even faster in hydroponic systems -- with a flowering time of 56 days. The strain’s colas are spear-shaped with long orange hairs. Subcool said Querkle was originally bred and grown indoors, then later tested as a crop both indoors and outdoors. The strain can grow in either environment.