Outdoor container question

[Ratfink707]

I have GSC "girl scout cookies" clone
In recipe 420 soil only given it ph declorinated water and northern California sun so far no added nutrients yet, have some on order.

Question is about container size and moving up ?

I bought the clone 17 days ago I put it in a 1qt pot for the first 10 days then went to its current pot 2.50qt I bought a 20 gallon smart pot for its final home but also have a extra 5 gallon root pouch I can use too and bags of foxfarm ocean forest soil to fill pots, question is when I'm ready to transfer again in few days if I should go straight to the 20 gallon or go in the 5 gallon and then jump to the 20 ? You will see in the pics Its growing next to 2 durban poison autoflowers I'm trying out too......

Thanks for reading and any input !

 

[TorturedSoul]

That's been a subject of mild debate for years. A lot of indoor soil growers do it (as have I) that way. I've never really felt it was in any way necessary, though. To me, it was mainly just a way to conserve resources. Electricity isn't free, lol. If I had smaller plants that would eventually end up filling my grow space, I might choose to not "fully illuminate" the entire space if I did not have to - and one way to accomplish this is to wait to place plants into their final containers until root growth sort of requires it. Six plants in one-gallon containers occupy less area than the same six plants would in five-gallon ones and a smaller light, placed closer to those plants, might be (more or less) as effective as a larger one, placed farther away (to cover enough area) over the same plants in the larger containers.

But when I grew outdoors... I used containers to start my plants and to transport them. After transporting to the "secret garden space," I'd plant them directly into the ground. Which is the largest container of all, so to speak.

"Small step" container transplanting can be helpful for those who have difficulty figuring out how to water their plants during various stages of development, I suppose.

If I was openly growing cannabis outdoors, say in my backyard, I might transplant directly into their final pots. We have a lot of heavy clay here. Or, as I once heard Dad put it, "rock and red clay mud." If I was going to be moving them regularly - chasing the sunlight, if you will - then I might go with (relatively) small containers when feasible. But that's because I'm not as young as I used to be, and 20+ gallons of soil can become heavy after a good rain. I don't even like to lump bags of soil if I don't have to; that's one of the positives in the hydroponics column, IMHO.

Just a few of my opinions. Others' may (and probably will) vary. As I mentioned, a subject of mild debate.