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Long before Ottawa decided what was “legal,” people here were growing cannabis with the same pride and discipline other regions reserve for wine or fishing. Kids grew up knowing the smell of a flowering room the way Prairie kids know the smell of wheat. Cannabis wasn’t contraband. It was agriculture, tradition and part of the landscape.
So when we talk about “craft cannabis,” we’re not inventing a new category.
We’re describing what BC growers have already perfected over decades.
“BC didn’t adopt craft cannabis — we invented the blueprint. Legalization just gave us a new lane to do it in,” —Kyp Rowe, VP Brand at VCC
What follows is the real story of how craft cannabis is grown — from seed to slow cure — using the traditional BC methods that shaped a global reputation long before legalization ever caught up.
“Our job isn’t to reinvent craft. Our job is to honour what BC growers already spent decades perfecting.” — Kyp
Corporate cannabis likes the word “craft.”
BC growers lived it long before it appeared on a label.
The difference is simple:
Craft cannabis is grown in small batches by people who actually know their plants. Commercial cannabis is grown at scale by people who know spreadsheets.
Traditional BC craft is built on:
In British Columbia — especially on Vancouver Island — nobody needed laws or consultants to tell them this was the right way to grow. This method survived because it worked. It produced the cannabis that built BC’s reputation worldwide.
Craft isn’t nostalgia.
It’s continuity.
“Craft isn’t a vibe. It’s a standard. If you’re not growing slow and touching every plant, it’s not craft.” — Kyp
Craft growing begins with genetics. Not trends, THC percentage or whatever moved the most units last quarter. BC growers learned decades ago that the seed is the soul of the plant. Choose the right cultivar and the room sings. Choose the wrong one and you fight it for months.
Growers look at:
When we choose cultivars like After Eighth, Ukee or G-Wagon, it’s because they express beautifully in a small room with hands-on attention. Pomelo Skunk shows impressive citrus-forward terpinolene — but only if you grow it slow, harvest at the right time, and cure it longer than a spreadsheet-driven facility would tolerate.
Cultivar choice isn’t branding, it’s a co-creation with Mother Nature.
“In a small room, a plant will tell you everything you need to know. You just have to slow down enough to listen.” — Taylor King, Head Grower at VCC
Craft rooms are small by design. A dozen lights. Not a hundred. You don’t need tech dashboards to tell you what’s happening because you can see it, smell it, feel it.
Traditional BC craft growers walk into the room in the morning and know instantly if something’s off:
A craft room is a dialogue, a corporate mega-facility is a monologue.
“You can smell a problem before you see it. That’s something automation will never replace.” —Taylor
Growers adjust:
In small rooms, these changes matter. In massive facilities, they get averaged out.
Flower is where commercial cannabis and craft cannabis truly diverge.
Corporate grows rely on:
Craft grows rely on:
A cultivar like Ukee will tell you she wants more airflow in week five. G-Wagon will tell you she needs her feed nudged down near the end. Pomelo Skunk will tell you when her citrus profile is about to peak. None of this is visible to someone who’s never walked a craft room.
All of it is obvious to someone who has.
As Kyp says:
“Craft isn’t slow because we want it to be slow, it’s slow because the plant demands respect.”
“You can’t rush a cultivar to finish. The trichomes decide when you harvest, not the calendar.” —Taylor
You can’t fake the harvest window.
Craft growers harvest based on trichome maturity — the subtle shift from clear to cloudy to amber. Commercial grows harvest when the schedule says to. There’s no comparison.
The perfect moment is narrow, and each cultivar has its own timing:
Harvest is where small-batch truly matters. You can dial in the perfect moment when you’re not trying to cut down an acre of plants in one sweep.
“Hang drying and a long cure are non-negotiable. That’s where all the work comes together.” —Taylor
Before machines, before automation, before legal trim lines, BC growers hung cannabis to dry.
We still do.
Hang drying protects:
In commercial facilities, drying is often rushed to meet throughput demands. In traditional craft, drying is the quietest part of the process — the part where growers slow down and let the plant settle into itself.
Unplug to charge up.
“Craft is slower because it has to be. Every shortcut you take shows up later when someone opens the jar.” —Kyp
People think curing is a technical phase. Craft growers know it’s a transformation phase.
Slow curing in controlled rooms:
Break open a properly cured bud of G-Wagon and you’ll understand why BC cannabis became famous.
Nothing rushed ever smells like that.
Machine trimming is fast. Hand trimming is respectful.
Craft growers trim by hand because:
Hand trimming protects the work that’s already been done. A trimmer shapes the final bud the same way someone finishing a piece of woodwork does — not polishing for perfection, but preserving the integrity that was there all along.
Before a craft batch leaves the facility, it’s checked by people who would smoke it themselves. That’s the difference.
Every batch gets inspected for:
Craft cannabis reflects the method — and the method reflects the grower.
Victoria Cannabis Company was built on the idea that the legacy and legal worlds aren’t opposites — they’re chapters of the same story.
BC growers kept craft alive under pressure. The legal industry gave those growers a new place to stand.
“Legacy and legal aren’t opposites. They’re the same culture with new rules. The growers didn’t change — the paperwork did.” —Kyp
At VCC, we grow small-batch cannabis the way Vancouver Island has always grown it:
Our cultivars — Ukee, G-Wagon, Pomelo Skunk, and others — are expressions of the same values that made BC bud a global legend.
Craft cannabis isn’t marketing. It’s memory, skill and culture. And it belongs to those who never stopped growing this way.
Flower To The People ✊
If you want to understand traditional BC craft, explore our traditional craft cannabis guide, learn about our craft approach, or see where to buy in Victoria — including our Victoria cannabis store on Vancouver Island.
Craft cannabis takes several months from seed to final cure because growers prioritize plant development, slow drying, and long curing.
Hang drying protects terpenes, structure, and trichomes. It’s slower, but it preserves quality.
Growers choose cultivars based on genetics, terpene potential, structure, and how well the plant performs in a small-batch craft environment.
BC has a long history of small-batch cultivation, hands-on growing traditions, and community knowledge that predate legalization.
They look at trichome maturity, aroma shift, and cultivar-specific signals — not just calendar days.
