i know im ass backwards

what up yall i got a few questions and id really appreciate the help.. im a 3th time grower and my first 3 grows have all been success' with each one being better than the time before... anyways ive done all of my growing hydroponically and have no experience or knowledge at all about soil growing.

but i thought id switch it up a littlebit and experiment and go soil for once.

so ive got a few questions here..

1.i know your spoced to transplant into bigger pots as the plant and root system gets bigger.. why not just start out with a big pot to begin with?

2.are there different soils used for veg and bloom? or does the soil remain the same?

3.lets say i use a 10 gallon bucket of soil- how many gallons of water would i use per watering?

4.how do you collect the excess run off water after a watering,because doesnt it leak out of the bottom of the pot?

5.would a 5 or 10 gallon bucket work? and if so should i drill holes at the bottom of it??

thank you very much for your time appreciate any feedback

so ive got a few questions here..

1. ... why not just start out with a big pot to begin with?
Keeping the root system confined in a series of smaller pots allows it to develope more "uniformly dense", as opposed to "racing to the perimeter" in a larger pot (leaving much of the soil "sparsely populated").

2.are there different soils used for veg and bloom? or does the soil remain the same?
Most people, that I know of, use the same soil all the way through and just change the nutes according to what is appropriate. But the options are up to you! I use a lightly fertilized, organic, mix with a balanced N-P-K all the way through. For vegging I spike it with a little "regular" Alaska Fish emulsion and Mexican Bat guano. For flowering I spike it with a little Alaska "Morbloom" Fish emulsion and Indonesian Bat guano. That's my equivelant of "Veg Nutes" and "Flower Nutes".

3.lets say i use a 10 gallon bucket of soil- how many gallons of water would i use per watering?
The exact amount would depend on how dry you let the soil get between waterings and the soil composition, but about a gallon (more or less).

4.how do you collect the excess run off water after a watering,because doesnt it leak out of the bottom of the pot?
Some pots come with a built-in "drip saucer" - I find these to be OK, except when the plants get big. They sell a variety of sizes of "flower pot drip saucers" at all garden centers. You can use a "Turkey Baster" to suck the excess water out, without disturbing the plant.

5.would a 5 or 10 gallon bucket work? and if so should i drill holes at the bottom of it??
Yeppers - and yeppers!

As far as run off goes, I place my 3 gal pots into seed trays without holes or cells. They are also called propagation trays, and are 10" x 20". They make great run off catchers. The water will easily evaporate into the air and help with humidity. I don't mess with basting it out. You could also use plastic trays on a slight incline and place a hole with a fitting on the end closest to you. The other end should be slightly higher. When the run off flows, it will come to the front of the tray and go down the plumbing to a catch res.

I have to ask though, after growing Hydro successfully, why on earth would you go to soil? I use soil, but have two waterfarms on the way.