PharmaCan, you aren't alone in that theory, many accomplished growers (a lot smarter than me) do the incremental transplanting, just as you suggest ... they claim doing it like that, forces the plant to push it's root system further ... it may, I don't know ... I have done it both ways, and just never seen any difference in the rootball, at harvest ... I usually tell newbies to start with a larger pot for two reasons: first, they are less likely to stress the plant with a clumsy transplant, and the larger pot helps avoid over-watering, which is still a bad habit of mine (I'm a seedling-killin' mo-fo ) ... just the other day, I saw a growing tip by no other than BOG, in a magazine, suggest transplanting in 'tiers', leaving the top half of the transplanted pot raised above the new soil level ... he says the idea is to expose the roots to more air .. ??? .. he's an 'expert', but seems to me, he's also exposing the roots to light, and possible disease ... just goes to show, there's lots of different ways to grow, but it all comes down to "it's a WEED, it'll grow anywhere, anyhow" ... :thumbsup: