One big starter or step starter

I been using mr malty for my first starter. and to use the one packet of yeast i have a i need a 4.5 growth factor. This is 2.5L. Can I start straight with that big of a starter or is do i need to step up my starters?

 

You can start with that, no need to step up unless you need a starter that exceeds your container size.

 

good to know. Thanks for the speedy response, once again!

 

If you play with the calcs, or read Yeast, you'll find that making yeast cells gets very inefficient when the starter gets big; IOW you're wasting a lot of DME and just making beer instead of yeast. The alternative is two (stepped) starters, which is unfortunately more hassle.

But for 2.5L, yep I'd just do one starter.