Apparently the rule of thumb is one gallon for every foot of height.i would guess move up to one gallon containers and from there transplant to larger ones. I just start my lil ones off in 2.5 gallon pots,they spend they life in that one pot so i dont know much about transplanting. you can get other types of soil at gardening stores. it seems as though Miracle Grow has a monopoly at Home Depot and Walmart