Can the pot I use have a large effect on my plant growth?

Here is a total newb question, but I am in the right place So here it is I have two plants one in a clay pot one in a plastic pot. The clay one absorbs allot of the water I add to it and the plastic one doesn't so I have had to water the clay one allot more. Also the plant in the clay pot I germinated on paper towels, the one in the plastic pot I germinated in the soil it is growing in. They are in the same soil, and are under the same light.

They both came up the same day and at first grew at the same rate. Now the one in the clay pot is growing at an astonishing rate, at least to me, of about 2 inches a day and the one in the plastic pot is growing at 1 inch a day. They are now different heights so I have my light at an angle to try to keep it close to both. So is it the type of pot they are in that makes the difference? I mean I have to water the clay one more so I guess that might release more of the slow release fertilizer in the soil. Or is it the fact that I germinated the one in the clay pot in a paper towel before planting it? Or maybe a little from column A a little from column B? And is there anyway to speed up the growth so it catches up to its sibling?

This would only be an accurate test if you grew from clone. There are too many variations from seed to seed to conclude that the pot is affecting growth, though I wouldn't rule it out entirely.