I'm curious at to what advantages and/or disadvantages there are to starting seeds in small pots and transplanting them (either once or multiple times) rather than putting your seeds in large enough pots to begin with.
when i get my clones they go right into 5 gallon pots =) i think only advantage to transplanting is your able to have more control over watering it in a small pot
Transferring plants or sprouts can shock a plant, inhibiting it's growth and development. Although, if done carefully and correctly transferring can do little to nothing to the plant. The advantage is no transfers, disadvantages; can't think of one for starting out with a bigger pot.
^Not if you do it right, I've never had a plant suffer from transplanting. It can be harder to maintain proper watering and soil moisture for a baby sprout in a big pot, the soil could be soggy wet near the bottom but too dried out at the top. In a smaller pot it's easier, especially for a newb, to keep the watering cycles. Once the plant is established, though, I go straight to the big pot too, so I start in 4" pots then to 5 gallons. I agree no advantage to continually transplanting several times to progressively larger pots.