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Northern Lights Shop

Comparison

Northern Lights vs Granddaddy Purple

Leafly users report the same top three effects for both, sleepy, relaxed and hungry, but flavor and lineage differ: Granddaddy Purple tastes of grape and berry, and Leafly describes it as a cross of Mendo Purps, Skunk and Afghanistan (others say Big Bud × Purple Urkle), while Northern Lights is piney and earthy.1,2 Northern Lights tests higher in state labs: 20.03% median for Northern Lights and 17.87% for Granddaddy Purple.3

Side by side

Northern LightsGranddaddy Purple
TypeIndica1Indica2
LineageAfghani × Thai1Mendo Purps × Skunk × Afghanistan; some say Big Bud × Purple Urkle2
Median THC (state lab tests)20.03% (406 tests)17.87% (512 tests)
Middle half of THC results17.28%–22.05%15.00%–21.55%
Top terpenes (median)β-Caryophyllene, Limonene, β-Myrcene (only 15 tests)Limonene, β-Caryophyllene, β-Myrcene (55 tests)
Most-reported effectsSleepy, relaxed, hungry1Sleepy, relaxed, hungry2
FlavorPine, earthy, woody1Grape, berry, violet2
OriginSeattle area, by tradition; in the Netherlands from 19851,4California; popularized in 2003 by Ken Estes2

Lab rows come from the same state lab dataset and matching rules for both strains.3

Lab-tested THC: Northern Lights vs Granddaddy Purple

14% 16% 18% 20% 22% 24% Northern Lights Northern Lights: median 20.03%, middle half 17.28%–22.05%, 406 tests 20.0% n=406 Granddaddy Purple Granddaddy Purple: median 17.87%, middle half 15.00%–21.55%, 512 tests 17.9% n=512 Median total THC (dot) and middle half of tests (bar)
Median and middle half of total THC in state lab tests.3

Other names

Granddaddy Purple also goes by Grand Daddy Purp, Granddaddy Purps and GDP.2

More comparisons

Sources

  1. Leafly, Northern Lights strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  2. Leafly, Granddaddy Purple strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  3. Cannlytics (CC BY 4.0), cannabis_results: public state lab results (filtered and aggregated by Official Cannabis). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  4. Leafly (Bailey Rahn), Strain highlight: Northern Lights, the indica legend up close (2014-05-01). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.