Citronade is a sativa-dominant hybrid grown and sold by Growing Pains, a Michigan cultivator that calls itself a crew of flavor makers. The cross pairs Lemon Tree with Gelato 41, putting a Sour Diesel-backed lemon line against one of the Cookies family's numbered Gelato cuts.
Growing Pains lists Citronade among its current strains and sums up its flavor in three words: orange, citrus and gas. The brand frames it as a daytime smoke with a heady lift and a bright, alert mood.
From basement tents to a Michigan warehouse
Growing Pains started small. The founders describe moving from tents in their basements to a commercial-sized warehouse as they entered Michigan's legal market. The company says its approach has not changed with the square footage.
The team hand-selects genetics it considers some of the most sought after anywhere, so Michigan shoppers can find them without traveling. Everything the brand releases goes through testing before it ships. Growing Pains sells through a retailer portal and its own store, with flower, prerolls, rosin and jars in the lineup.
Citronade sits in a deep catalog. The current list runs past 35 strains, including Zangria, a Thin Mint Cookie and Zkittlez cross, and Sherbanger, which pairs Sunset Sherbet with Headbanger OG. Permanent Marker, Pink Pebbles and Lemon Cherry Gelato round out the better-known names.
Lemon Tree brings the citrus and the diesel
Lemon Tree is a cross of Sour Diesel and Lemon Skunk. Leafly lists it as a balanced hybrid, and one grower on its page calls the plant very easy to grow with large yields. Both traits help explain why breeders keep reaching for it as a parent.
Lemon Tree has already anchored several modern crosses. Leafly names Gelonade and Melonade as two of its children. Gelonade uses the exact same pairing as Citronade, Lemon Tree with Gelato #41, which makes the two close relatives on the family tree.
Growing Pains has leaned into that branch elsewhere too. Its Cream Smoothie crosses Cream with Gelonade, so the Lemon Tree and Gelato 41 combination shows up more than once across the brand's menu.
Gelato 41 and the Cookies family line
Gelato 41 comes out of California's Cookies family. Its parents are Sunset Sherbet and Thin Mint Cookies, and Leafly lists it as a hybrid with a flowering window of 8–9 weeks.
The plant is not an easy grow. Leafly rates Gelato 41 as hard, with a medium yield and short to medium height, and notes it does well in soil. Its buds range in color from light green to purple under a coat of trichomes.
Gelato 41 has a history inside the Growing Pains catalog as well. Bistachio, a discontinued strain, built its second half from Do Si Do and Gelato 41 before the brand retired it.
How the two parents meet in Citronade
On paper, Citronade splits the difference between its parents. Lemon Tree adds the Sour Diesel and Lemon Skunk side of the family, along with a reputation as a forgiving, high-yielding plant. Gelato 41 brings Sherbet and Thin Mint genetics and a trickier, lower-yielding grow.
Growing Pains lands the cross on the sativa side of the hybrid scale. The company describes the effect as a rush to the head with heightened alertness and a lifted mood, a profile it positions for daytime rather than late nights.
Citronade is a Michigan release through and through. It is grown in the Growing Pains warehouse, sold under the brand's own name and moved to dispensaries through the company's retailer portal.