The GOOD BUDS Blog:
How our Organic, Sun-Grown Cannabis Is Made
GOOD BUDS is a family-run, FVOPA Certified Organic cannabis farm on Salt Spring Island, BC, founded in 2017 by brothers Tyler and Alex Rumi and Canada's first licensed outdoor cannabis cultivator. This blog explains how we grow: living soil beds reused since 2019, rainwater on the sun-grown crop, house-bred strains Gluerangutan, Mango Cake and Timewarp, and how flower, pre-rolls and vapes are made. GOOD BUDS products are sold at licensed cannabis retailers across BC, Alberta and Ontario. Find GOOD BUDS near you.
What seven years in the same soil does to a plant
Living soil reused over years develops a biological complexity a fresh batch can't match — holding water and nutrients better and feeding the plant more steadily. GOOD BUDS has grown in the same beds since 2019, and cultivation lead Tyler Rumi explains how that shows up in the flower, including Gluerangutan's portfolio-high terpene load.
If You Like Blue Dream, You Might Like Timewarp
Blue Dream and GOOD BUDS Timewarp share myrcene-dominant chemistry, fruit-forward character, and outdoor heritage cultivation stories — California's version and BC's. One leans blueberry; the other leans dark cherry and orange citrus, at 2.9–3.4% total terpenes in certified organic living soil on Salt Spring Island.
If You Like GG4 (Gorilla Glue), You Might Like Gluerangutan
GG4 (Gorilla Glue) is one of the most-loved strains in cannabis, and it's literally one of Gluerangutan's parents. GOOD BUDS pheno-hunted Gluerangutan from 150,000 plants of GG4-lineage seed in 2019, then adapted it to outdoor growing in living soil on Salt Spring Island.
If You Like Ghost Train Haze, You Might Like GOOD BUDS Gluerangutan
Ghost Train Haze and GOOD BUDS Gluerangutan share OG Kush and Afghani genetics, but express them in completely different terpene directions. One runs terpinolene-forward; the other is caryophyllene-led, sun-grown in certified organic living soil on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Why Outdoor Cannabis Costs Less to Grow & Why Most LPs Still Don't Do It
Outdoor cannabis costs less to grow than indoor cannabis because sunlight, rain, and living soil replace the inputs that indoor facilities pay for every day. Alex Rumi on the structural economics behind GOOD BUDS, Canada's first licensed outdoor cultivation facility, on Salt Spring Island, BC.
The Genetics Problem: Why Most Cannabis Strains Fail Outdoors
Most cannabis strains fail outdoors because they were bred for indoor conditions, and shopping for outdoor-viable genetics isn't really an option — you have to do the selection work yourself. Tyler Rumi walks through how GOOD BUDS landed on Timewarp and Gluerangutan after years of pheno-hunting on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Indoor cannabis runs on lights and air conditioning. Ours runs on the sun.
Indoor cannabis cultivation runs on artificial lighting, air conditioning, and dehumidification around the clock, making it one of the most energy-intensive ways to grow the plant. GOOD BUDS grows most of its cannabis — including outdoor-only flagship Gluerangutan — in natural sunlight on Salt Spring Island, BC, removing that energy load entirely.
What's actually in a bottle of synthetic cannabis nutrients — and what it costs to make it
Conventional cannabis runs on synthetic mineral salts — fossil-fuel-derived nitrogen and mined potassium that carry a high environmental cost before and after the grow. GOOD BUDS is FVOPA-certified and feeds its outdoor crop a single organic amendment, alfalfa meal, with no synthetic inputs on the farm on Salt Spring Island, BC.
We water our cannabis with rain. We don't even filter it.
GOOD BUDS irrigates entirely with rainwater captured in on-farm retention ponds — unfiltered, so the living microbes and mycorrhizae in the pond water reach the roots as a natural inoculant. Combined with organic FVOPA-certified inputs and no synthetic salts, it means no nutrient runoff from the farm on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Is Outdoor Cannabis Lower Quality?
Outdoor cannabis isn’t inherently lower quality—it’s often misunderstood. When the right genetics are matched to the right environment, sun-grown cannabis can outperform indoor across terpene content, potency, and overall expression.
Three things we do that don't scale — and why we do them anyway
GOOD BUDS hand-bucks every plant after a slow whole-plant hang dry, pheno-hunted 160,000 seeds from the Netherlands to develop strains like Gluerangutan, and farms in living soil beds running continuously since 2019. None of these is efficient — they're the long-term decisions behind an FVOPA Certified Organic family farm on Salt Spring Island.
If You Like Pink Kush, You Might Like Gluerangutan
If Pink Kush is your go-to, GOOD BUDS Gluerangutan shares the OG Kush family tree but branches off in a gassier, piney, more resinous direction. Grown outdoors in living soil on Salt Spring Island, it's a different expression of a strain family you already know.
We've grown in the same soil since 2019. Here's why we never replace it.
GOOD BUDS has grown in the same living soil beds since 2019 — indoors and out — amending and reusing rather than replacing medium each cycle, which eliminates the single-use pots and rockwool most cannabis production sends to landfill. It's a slower, harder method that compounds soil biology over years on the farm on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Sustainable cannabis: your questions answered
Direct answers to the most common questions about cannabis and the environment — indoor vs. outdoor, organic vs. conventional, packaging vs. production, and how to spot genuinely sustainable cannabis. Each answer stands alone, with GOOD BUDS' outdoor, living-soil farm on Salt Spring Island as a real-world reference point.
The cannabis sustainability conversation is stuck on packaging. The bigger problem is how the flower is grown.
The cannabis sustainability conversation focuses on packaging, but the real footprint is in production — single-use pots, rockwool, synthetic mineral salts, and round-the-clock indoor power. GOOD BUDS grows mostly outdoors in living soil that's been running since 2019, fed with FVOPA-certified organic amendments and 100% recaptured rainwater on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Sun-Grown Cannabis on Salt Spring Island: One Harvest a Year
Sun-grown cannabis on Salt Spring Island runs on one harvest a year — Gluerangutan and Timewarp come off the field once each fall, in living soil beds that have been working since 2019. Tyler Rumi on what one harvest actually requires, the year we lost a third of the crop, and why we still grow the way we do.
What Is CBGa in Cannabis?
CBGa is the first cannabinoid the cannabis plant makes, and every COA lists it. Mango Cake from GOOD BUDS tests at 2.4 to 3.5% CBGa across lots, several times what most finished flower shows, and this is what that number means.
What Is Living Soil Cannabis?
Living soil cannabis is grown in a biologically active ecosystem where microbes, fungi, and organic matter naturally feed the plant—no synthetic inputs required. Over time, this system produces richer terpene profiles, smoother smoke, and a more sustainable approach to cannabis cultivation.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Posts are written by GOOD BUDS co-founders Tyler and Alex Rumi and the farm team on Salt Spring Island, BC. Tyler leads cultivation and breeding. Alex covers markets, regulation and the business of craft cannabis.
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Living soil, sun-grown and indoor cultivation, FVOPA Certified Organic farming, breeding and pheno-hunting, drying and curing, vape and extract formats, and strain comparisons for Gluerangutan, Mango Cake and Timewarp.
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GOOD BUDS flower, pre-rolls and vapes are sold at licensed cannabis retailers in BC, Alberta and Ontario, supplied through the BCLDB, AGLC and OCS. Nothing is sold on this website. Use the store locator to find a retailer near you.
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Yes. GOOD BUDS is FVOPA Certified Organic for both its sun-grown and indoor cultivation on Salt Spring Island, BC, and was Canada's first licensed outdoor cannabis cultivator. Lots that require irradiation to meet Health Canada microbial requirements do not carry the FVOPA mark on the label.
Press
As featured in
GOOD BUDS was granted Canada's first outdoor cannabis cultivation licence in 2019.
GOOD BUDS dives into Cultivation & Distribution Plans after receiving sales license from Health Canada.
Thanks to our friends over at Sessions High Life, we’ve been nominated #1 on their list of who’s bringing Canada’s finest cannabis products to the table.
GOOD BUDS becomes one of the first Living Wage Employers in the Cannabis Growing Sector.
GOOD BUDS launches Whole Flower Concentrates in Alberta
GOOD BUDS wins Concentrate of The Year & Best Social Media awards.
GOOD BUDS achieves Organic certification from the Fraser Valley Organic Producers Association.
