Bolo Runtz is an indica-dominant hybrid from Growing Pains, a Michigan cultivator that hand-selects genetics for its home state. Growing Pains builds it from Gelato and Zkittlez plus a third parent it keeps in-house. It reaches Michigan shelves as 1g pre-rolls, with listings at Cloud Cannabis in Detroit and Grand Rapids and at Gazzz Cannabis Co. in Roseville.
From basement tents to a Michigan warehouse
Growing Pains started small. The founders describe growing in tents in their basements before scaling into a commercial-size warehouse and entering Michigan's legal market. The company's stated goal is to bring some of the most sought-after genetics in the world to Michigan, so local smokers can try them without the travel.
Every batch runs through the same R&D process led by the founders. The lineup covers flower, jars, pre-rolls and rosin, plus hats, lighters, grinders, rolling trays and hoodies under the same name.
A 40-strain menu built on Z and Marker
The strain list runs to 40 names, two of them now discontinued. Bolo Runtz shares the menu with Zyrup, Honey Banana, Burnout O.G., Znickerdoodle, Vitamin Z, Cranberry Z and Citronade.
Marker lines make up another cluster. Growing Pains grows Permanent Marker, which it notes was Leafly's Strain of the Year for 2023, alongside Scented Marker, Malibu Marker and London Marker. Lemon Cherry Gelato, Bubble Gum Gelato, Lantz and D' Lish round out a catalog that leans hard on candy crosses.
Gelato and Zkittlez in the family tree
Both named parents are West Coast heavyweights. Gelato comes from Sunset Sherbet crossed with Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, an evenly balanced hybrid whose original cultivar is Gelato #33, nicknamed Larry Bird after the NBA jersey number. Leafly rates it hard to grow, with an 8–9 week flowering time.
Zkittlez traces to Grape Ape and Grapefruit crossed with a third strain, from a grower known as Gas Station Bob. Terp Hogz and 3rd Gen Family popularized it, and it took first place at the 2016 Emerald Cup. It also placed at Cannabis Cups in San Francisco and Michigan, and won King of Z Hill in 2023.
In 2023, Terp Hogz adopted the name The Original Z after a trademark settlement with a candy company. Leafly lists it as a short-to-medium plant that flowers in 8–10 weeks.
The Runtz connection
The name points somewhere specific. Runtz is the Cookies Fam cross of Zkittlez and Gelato, popularized by Yung LB and the Runtz crew out of Long Beach. Leafly named it Strain of the Year in 2020.
Leafly lists Runtz at about 63 days of flowering, with smaller-than-average yields of resin-heavy buds that run from purple to lime green. Outdoors it finishes in mid-October.
Bolo Runtz carries both of those named parents, then adds the Growing Pains house parent on top. Runtz itself has splintered widely. Leafly counts at least 20 variations, and the strain also circulates as Runtz OG, Gelato Zkittlez and, in the Netherlands, Zwirlz.
How Growing Pains pitches it
Growing Pains calls Bolo Runtz a recent addition to its lineup, built for the evening. The company sums it up as creamy, candy and gas, pairing the robust qualities of Gelato with the candy side of Zkittlez.
The brand describes the high as relaxed and euphoric, with a cozy couch-locked finish. That puts Bolo Runtz at the heavy end of a Growing Pains menu full of candy crosses.