Re-potting an Acer

Hi,

I have an acer palmatum that i bought in june last year and it is still in the same pot. I would like to pot it up in to a more permanent home (the current one is plastic from GC). I will still keep it in a plastic pot but place that within a proper pot for the patio. Can anyone tell me when is the best time to re-pot? Any tips on ensuring its successful? Despite wanting to place the tree into a much larger pot (so i dont have to keep re-potting) I have been advised against this and to instead gradually increase the size - why is this?

Thanks

 

It is better to repot a step at a time
I understand that the reason is if you repot into too large a pot all at once, there is so much soil around the roots which they cannot reach that the plant may suffer from over watering (or something like that )

You can repot at any time
Keep the extra soil as near as possible to the existing to help the roots adjust