NYC Diesel

1. Summary

NYC Diesel is a seed strain from Soma Seeds, Amsterdam, sold since around 2000. It is distinct from the clone-only East Coast Sour Diesel, although Danko lists "NYC Diesel" among Sour Diesel's street aliases, and Soma's version is sometimes marketed as "Soma Sour Diesel".¹² Soma's current product page gives the genetics as "Mexican Sativa × Afghani" and says a friend brought the seeds from New York.³ Soma's earlier description, as reproduced on Seedfinder, is different. It says the mother was a bag-seed Diesel of uncertain line, possibly an S1 of Original Diesel, Underdawg or Sour D. That mother was crossed with Shanti's (Mr Nice) Afghani/Hawaiian male, and the current seeds are a backcross to the Diesel mother.⁴ The two breeder-attributed statements contradict each other, so parentage is disputed. NYC Diesel's High Times Cannabis Cup record is repeatedly cited, but the details are disputed: wins in the Sativa category 2001–2004 (Wikipedia), second place in 2001/2002/2004 (Soma's award list as quoted), or second place in 2001/2003/2004 (dispensary copy). Soma's page says "five Cannabis Cup trophies". I found no official results page.⁵³⁶

2. Identity

• Names/aliases: NYC Diesel, NYCD, New York City Diesel, New York Diesel, "Soma Sour Diesel".⁶²
• Type as reported: "mostly sativa" (Seedfinder); "Indica/Sativa" with no percentage (Soma 2026); some dispensary copy says 60/40 sativa.⁴³
• Era: dispensary copy says bred in 1997; Cup results from 2001; still sold.⁶
• Breeder: Soma (Soma Seeds / Soma's Sacred Seeds, Amsterdam).³⁵
• Propagation: seed (feminized and regular).³
• Region: Amsterdam breeding work on genetics brought from New York City.³⁴

3. Genetics & lineage claims

3a. Mexican Sativa × Afghani (Soma's current page)

Confidence: reported as fact, verified as the breeder's current statement. Soma's 2026 product page: "MEXICAN SATIVA X AFGHANI"; made by crossing "Mexican and Afghani landraces"; "a friend brought the seeds".³ Reseller Seeds Here Now repeats this for a Best Coast Genetics "NYC Diesel".⁷

3b. Unknown Diesel bag seed × Shanti's Afghani/Hawaiian male, later backcrossed to the Diesel mother

Confidence: reported (breeder description as reproduced by Seedfinder; Seedfinder is link-only and secondary). The Diesel mother came from bag seed a friend from NYC called the best pot he had smoked. Soma was not certain which Diesel it was and suggested an S1 of Original Diesel, Underdawg or Sour D. The first award-winning hybrid was Diesel mother × Shanti's Afghani/Hawaiian male, and the current seeds are believed to be a first backcross to the Diesel mother. Seedfinder lineage: "Unknown Diesel Bagseed × Afghani/Hawaiian (Mr Nice Seedbank)".⁴ An Aficionado Seed Bank listing calls NYC Diesel a "Sour Diesel clone × Afghani/Hawaiian male".⁸

3a and 3b disagree on whether the female side is a Mexican sativa landrace or a NYC Diesel bag seed; recorded as disputed.

3c. Relationship to Sour Diesel

Confidence: reported. High Times (Danko 2016) lists "NYC Diesel" as one of the names for AJ's Sour Diesel.¹ On the 3b account, Soma's line has a Diesel-family mother; on the 3a account it does not. No genotype evidence was found.

4. Timeline

• 1997 — "first bred by Soma" (dispensary copy; unverified).⁶
• 2001 — "renamed" after 11 September 2001 as a tribute to New York (dispensary copy; unverified). High Times Cannabis Cup Sativa placing (see §1).⁶⁵
• 2001–2004 — Cup placings claimed every year or most years (disputed).⁵⁶
• 2026 — still sold; Soma site lists 12–13 weeks flowering and a minimum yield of 25–40 g.³

5. Notable cuts / phenotypes / remakes

• Soma notes that the backcross seeds differ from the first award-winning F1.⁴
• Derivatives in breeder catalogs: Compound Genetics NYC Vapor = NYC Diesel × Jokerz #31; RQS NYC Sour D Auto = NY Diesel × Sour Diesel Auto; Kannabia Diesel Glue = New York Diesel × Black Domina; Cannatasia NYC Sour OG = NYCD × White OG F3 (reseller).⁹

6. Historical descriptions by era

2000s. Ripe red grapefruit taste; exotic smell and high (Soma via Seedfinder).⁴

2020s. Soma: a "pungent lime and grapefruit aroma"; "strong cerebral effects" easing into "deep, full-body relaxation"; social and talkative; "paranoia-free" for some anxiety-prone users; 12–13 weeks. Soma-site reviews (13 ratings, 4.77/5) mention grapefruit, back-pain relief, mild initial anxiety and harsh smoke if overdone.³

7. Cannabinoid & terpene profile

Caveat: strain names are not reliable chemotype identifiers. The WA I-502 match for this name pulls in "CBDiesel", a different CBD strain, through Leafly slug matching, so WA figures are not used for THC.

The breeder's "lime/grapefruit" description suggests limonene, but lab product under the name is myrcene-dominant.

8. Community sentiment

• Grapefruit/citrus-fuel flavour — common, positive.³⁴
• Social, talkative, cerebral-then-relaxing — common, positive.³
• Long flowering (11–13 weeks), sativa stretch — occasional, negative (grower).³⁴
• Confusion with East Coast Sour Diesel — occasional, neutral.¹⁸

Paraphrases: Soma-site reviewers credit it with morning soreness relief and an uplifting high, and one warns of harsh smoke when hit too hard.³

Overall score: 80/100 (small samples: Soma-site 4.77/5 from n=13; Seedfinder 3 comments). The sample is too small for a confident score.

Conflicts with lab data: the citrus/grapefruit marketing contrasts with myrcene-dominant lab profiles.

9. Open questions / could not verify

• Official High Times Cup results 2001–2004 (first vs second place); Wayback CDX for somaseeds.nl 2000–2006 returned HTTP 429.
• Soma's own pre-2010 description (the bag-seed Diesel × Afghani/Hawaiian text) at its original URL.
• The 1997 breeding date and the post-9/11 renaming story (dispensary copy only).

10. Sources