Thanks for sharing your experiment. I've wondered how it would work out, tiering them like that. I've always started mine in solo cups, and when the cup is tight and full of roots, I transplant to final bucket. I don't know if that's what you meant by just starting them and transplanting, if so, it works great. But, I only do that when starting them in something like a solo cup. I don't dig them out of another pot. I just fill my final pot, leave a cup sized hole in the middle, then mist the hole, then cut the solo cup away from the plant. Then I drop the dirt and small rootball in the hole. I've done this on about 20 plants in the past year and haven't lost a single one.