Every grower hits a point where the closet setup or the single all-in-one tent just doesn’t cut it anymore. You start craving something that doesn’t force you to choose between vegging the next batch and flowering the current one in the same four walls. That’s exactly where I’ve landed after two runs — and it’s time to talk about the upgrade.
The New Setup
This round, I’ve split things into three dedicated spaces:
• A 2x2 Mars Hydro tent for veg — compact, efficient, and just the right footprint for keeping a steady rotation of young plants coming up without eating a ton of room.
• A 3x3 tent for flower — the main event. More canopy space means more light coverage and room for plants to stretch out and actually finish the way they’re supposed to. Pics coming once it’s fully set up and dialed in.
• A dedicated dry tent — this is the piece a lot of small-scale growers skip, and it’s a mistake. Trying to dry in the same space you’re vegging or flowering in messes with humidity control for everyone involved. A separate tent means the buds get a slow, even dry without fighting environmental swings from active plants nearby.
Splitting these functions apart is really what turns a single grow into a perpetual one. While one tent is finishing flower, the next batch is already vegging, and the previous harvest is drying down — no dead time between cycles, no waiting around for one tent to clear before starting the next round.
The Big Change: Moving to DWC
The other major shift this run is moving away from a straight soil-only approach and adding deep water culture (DWC) into the mix. I picked up two 5-gallon buckets, each fitted with an aerator, which is the whole game with DWC — that constant stream of oxygenated water at the root zone is what lets roots grow faster and pull nutrients more efficiently than they can in soil.
DWC isn’t forgiving of neglect, though. A few things I’m keeping front of mind going in:
• Water temperature matters more than people expect. Keeping the reservoir in the mid-60s°F range helps stave off root rot and keeps dissolved oxygen levels where they need to be.
• pH swings faster in water than in soil. With no buffering medium, I’ll be checking and adjusting pH more frequently than I ever needed to before.
• The aerator is non-negotiable. If it fails or gets clogged, roots can suffocate fast. A backup air pump is cheap insurance.
Keeping Living Soil in the Rotation
Rather than going all-in on hydro, I’m running my third batch in living soil alongside the DWC buckets — partly to compare results side by side, and partly because living soil has its own advantages: a self-sustaining microbial ecosystem, less day-to-day input tweaking, and (for a lot of growers) a flavor profile that hydro struggles to match. Running both at once this cycle should make for a good real-world comparison of growth speed, yield, and quality between the two methods.
Meet the Lineup
Pics below of what’s currently coming up:
• The infamous Cherry Zlushee — this one mutated and topped itself back in early seedling stage, so it’s been an interesting one to watch develop.
• Bruce Banger Fast Version by Seedsman
• Bubba Cheesecake by Seedsman
• 2x OGK clones from Seed Supreme
(Photos coming soon)
Why the Perpetual Setup Actually Matters
For anyone running a small-scale grow, the perpetual model solves the biggest headache: downtime. Instead of running one crop start-to-finish and then scrambling to get the next round started from seed or clone, having dedicated veg, flower, and dry spaces means:
• A new batch is always coming up in veg while the current one flowers.
• Harvested plants get a proper, undisturbed dry cycle without hogging tent space needed for active grows.
• You end up with a rolling harvest schedule instead of long gaps between crops.
What’s Next
Once the 3x3 flower tent is fully assembled and running, I’ll get photos up so you can see the full lineup side by side — veg, flower, and dry tents working in tandem. I’ll also be tracking how the DWC buckets perform against the living soil batch through this cycle, so stay tuned for updates on growth rate, canopy development, and eventually a side-by-side on the finished product.
Small-scale doesn’t have to mean small results — dialing in the setup is half the battle, and this feels like the first run where the whole system is actually built to keep up with itself. I just watered them before I left I woke up this morning they were looking so sad and hungry smh more pics tomorrow
Dude 
, you’re going to LOVE that hydro system 
you can expect faster, more vigorously growing plants than soil. It will reach a very large size in a short amount of time. Expect the hydro plants to be twice the size you MUST change the water out completely every couple of weeks, this will keep the reservoir fresh and free of plant poop 
. When the plants remove the nutrients, the salt base is leftover, plant poop this will build up in the bottom of the bucket if not changed out.
One of the problems we encountered was changing the water in the bucket during flower 
. The plants had gotten so large, and were heavily tied up with string 
to the ceiling, making lifting the plants up and out of the way to empty the bucket nearly impossible. Consider how this will be accomplished in late flowering. A drain hole 
is a must!
Needs make sure plenty of room for roots as ours got nutrient lock
Exactly, that 
out was being caused by not replacing the water 
. The root ending were sitting on the bottom in a layer of slimy brown 
plant poop
That was compounded by the air stones becoming encased by the root mass.
To counter these issues, we are going to use larger 14 gallon reservoirs, and a recirculation system to keep everything stirred up good
I love perpetual grows. I can run my setup in such a way that I could harvest every month if I wanted to
That’s going to be setup in about a month or so after I harvest these girls I have 2 questions can I transplant my two young teens that’s in 1 gal pots of living soil? And I have 2 5gal dwc buckets with net cup lid and a water leveler, also I can turn it upside down to drain the water so since I have time should I upgrade it and turn it into a rdwc since im good with diy?
That’s dope I will get there one day
I would yes. It will make the water change much easier. It is also easier to manage a larger volume, it will be more “stable” as the increased volume will be less effected by slight changes.
The down side. You can’t use separate mixes for each, since they are all tied together, what one gets, they all get
We are also trying an aeroponic version that’s my part. Lol
Im buying one this week and going to have my aero garden as my cloning chamber… Can’t wait 
So im going to do the upgrades and that should definitely buy me so more time on the automated part.. But it’s safe to make that living soil to hydro transplant?
Yeah you can do it. When I first trying to figure this out, I started seeds in those little add water to expanding plugs, and placed that in the hole in the 3x3 rockwool, worked great. We use those little spongy plugs from seedsman now
Great advice can’t wait to show y’all the update of my 3rd grow
Looking forward to it, you have some amazing plants my friend
Yo! That’s what’s UP! What a dream setup! Serious grow goals alright. I wish you all the best with it. 
