Transplanting. 1/4 gal. to 1/2 gal. or 1.5 gal.?

Getting ready to transplant some seedlings. This is my first grow after a long time off. I only had a few grows last time anyway and don't remember what my system was back then.

Currently plants are in 1/4 gallon pots. I have 1/2 gallon pots to put them in or I can put them in 1.5 gallons and skip the 1/2 all together. I think next time I'll just start the seeds in the 1/2 to eliminate a transfer.

My original plan was to go 1/4 (seed/sprout) - 1/2 - 1.5 (sex plants)- 3.0 (finish)

So what would you do? Would you jump right to the 1/2? The plants are about 3" but there's a fair amount of roots sticking out the bottom. Either way I plan to wait a few more days anyway.

My only concern in the 1/2 gal is that they'll fill out the pot too quick and/or retain too much water.

Thanks.

you should strart from 1.5 for 4 weeks of veg or more if you prefer then when you want to change the times to 12/12 transplant to 3 gallons first to save ur self one less transplant and saves ur plant with less stress

Starting in 1.5 gal is impossible since I use a seedling box and would only be able to fit two pots in there. With 1/2 gal. I can start 8, which is the number I'm looking for. 1/4 gal. fits 16 in the seedling box, but I only need 8 at a time.

well you failed to mention your seedling box are they ur 1/4 gallon containers ? if not then i dont see a problem
sprout ur babys in the seed box and its not a bad transplant cause there in there own cubes so just once they've sprouted you can place them in the 1.5 gal for a month or however long then from a seed box they should get any stress planting into the 1.5

You didn't say if 1.5 is your final pot, but I assume so. Unless you are limited for space, 1.5 is not big enough to give the plants full potential, especially if you are using HID lights. You don't really need to transplant more than once; a good, healthy plant in the seedling pot transplanted to a (preferably 3-5 gal) final pot. That's what I do anyway, and I believe most soil growers do something similar.