Help: Plant been sick for over a month

[parrajara]

Next time try bottom watering and keeping soil moist , after a lot of experimenting i have got better healthy bigger plants ,

• Yesterday at 9:54 PM

Thanks for the suggestion Professor. I don't know how to bottom water, so I'm gonna look into it and give it a try. Also, you think a potential reason is that I am letting them dry out too much?

 

[NuttyProfessor]

Drying too much can hurt the roots as much as over watering ,
Its just another suggestion that is worth trying
I noticed my friend left a sad face Emilya , if i seen people having a huge success i would be happy for them not sad , and knocking something you haven't tried is the worst thing you can do .
I have done experiments and ive researched the SCIENCE

When i started

and this is the same plant THE Biggest and this is an auto week 7 about 55 days old

Drought in cannabis plants​

In the same way that an excess of water is detrimental, lack of water can also cause the death of the roots and, therefore, the plant itself.

After a prolonged lack of irrigation, the leaves will be droopy, which is a sign that the roots are slowly becoming dry and dehydrated, as are the capillaries responsible for water absorption.

Once the capillaries become dehydrated, they will dry and die, undermining the plant's ability to take up water and food. If you re hydrate them, the plants will recover on a visual level, but many of the capillaries will be dry and useless, reducing the absorption capacity of the plant.

Recurring drought periods limit the productive capacity of the plants, as well as their ability to survive. It's even possible that a plant that has been hit hard by a long period of drought won't recover and end up dying.


Why is microbial activity less in dry soil?
Researchers investigate how microbes respire in dry conditions. Research has shown that microbial activity in soil reduces as soil moisture levels decrease , a result of both physiological stress and physical factors.

Letting your soil dry out is like a human not drinking water for a week. Its not going to kill you but you will not function properly. Once peat based mixes dry out they become very water repellent, and as it may seem as if your watering alot, its just running right out the bottom....


Added this again so i can bookmark

Dry soil conditions impact on nutrient availability​

These extended periods of very dry soil conditions can reduce Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) availability to plants.

Nitrogen​

For N, low soil moisture decreases soil microbe activity. Microbes play an important role in breaking down organic matter and converting organic N to inorganic nitrate nitrogen, a process called mineralization. In dry soils with low N mineralization, there could be less plant available N in the form of either ammonium (NH4+-N) or nitrate (NO3--N) nitrogen. In dry soils, the risk of NO3--N loss through leaching or denitrification is reduced. While this means there is more soil N available to crops, plant uptake can be reduced. When the rains return there a can be a sudden increase in soil nitrogen. If this occurs late in the season it may be detrimental for perennial crops going into dormancy.

Phosphorus​

Reduced soil microbial activity in soils with low moisture can reduced organic matter decomposition and the mineralization of organic P to inorganic P. Phosphorus moves from higher concentrations in the soil to lower concentrations in plant roots by diffusion. As soils become drier, less diffusion occurs. This is because the water film around the soil particles becomes thinner, making diffusion to the plant root more difficult.

Potassium​

Decreased movement of K to the plant roots occurs in dry soil. As soil dry, clay minerals become dry and shrink, trapping K tightly between mineral layers. Once trapped, K is unavailable to plant roots for uptake. This K is released and plant available again when the soil moisture increases. Reduce K uptake during extended dry soil conditions can show up as low K levels in tissue samples or high K levels in a post-harvest soil sample.

Remember " what is visible represents what is invisible "

Not my words , taking from someone sensible though

One reason that living soil growers have such great success is that we don’t do this silly thing of “drying out” our soil. We approach growing by growing our microbe herd and letting the microbes worry about feeding and growing the plants. In order to do this, we don’t take our soil through huge swings from wet to dry. Instead, we try to keep our soil at a constant moisture level where it has enough water but is also able to breathe. The whole “dry out” thing is very misunderstood and taken way too far by a lot of growers. IMO, it came about as a practice to combat the typical over watering that many growers do and to deal with some pest issues (that could be solved with other methods) – not because it’s actually ‘best practice’ for growing cannabis and most other plants.

 

[Emilya Green]

Drying too much can hurt the roots as much as over watering ,
Its just another suggestion that is worth trying
I noticed my friend left a sad face Emilya , if i seen people having a huge success i would be happy for them not sad , and knocking something you haven't tried is the worst thing you can do .
I have done experiments and ive researched the SCIENCE

When i started

and this is the same plant THE Biggest and this is an auto week 7 about 55 days old

Drought in cannabis plants​

In the same way that an excess of water is detrimental, lack of water can also cause the death of the roots and, therefore, the plant itself.

After a prolonged lack of irrigation, the leaves will be droopy, which is a sign that the roots are slowly becoming dry and dehydrated, as are the capillaries responsible for water absorption.

Once the capillaries become dehydrated, they will dry and die, undermining the plant's ability to take up water and food. If you re hydrate them, the plants will recover on a visual level, but many of the capillaries will be dry and useless, reducing the absorption capacity of the plant.

Recurring drought periods limit the productive capacity of the plants, as well as their ability to survive. It's even possible that a plant that has been hit hard by a long period of drought won't recover and end up dying.


Why is microbial activity less in dry soil?
Researchers investigate how microbes respire in dry conditions. Research has shown that microbial activity in soil reduces as soil moisture levels decrease , a result of both physiological stress and physical factors.

Letting your soil dry out is like a human not drinking water for a week. Its not going to kill you but you will not function properly. Once peat based mixes dry out they become very water repellent, and as it may seem as if your watering alot, its just running right out the bottom....


Added this again so i can bookmark

Dry soil conditions impact on nutrient availability​

These extended periods of very dry soil conditions can reduce Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) availability to plants.

Nitrogen​

For N, low soil moisture decreases soil microbe activity. Microbes play an important role in breaking down organic matter and converting organic N to inorganic nitrate nitrogen, a process called mineralization. In dry soils with low N mineralization, there could be less plant available N in the form of either ammonium (NH4+-N) or nitrate (NO3--N) nitrogen. In dry soils, the risk of NO3--N loss through leaching or denitrification is reduced. While this means there is more soil N available to crops, plant uptake can be reduced. When the rains return there a can be a sudden increase in soil nitrogen. If this occurs late in the season it may be detrimental for perennial crops going into dormancy.

Phosphorus​

Reduced soil microbial activity in soils with low moisture can reduced organic matter decomposition and the mineralization of organic P to inorganic P. Phosphorus moves from higher concentrations in the soil to lower concentrations in plant roots by diffusion. As soils become drier, less diffusion occurs. This is because the water film around the soil particles becomes thinner, making diffusion to the plant root more difficult.

Potassium​

Decreased movement of K to the plant roots occurs in dry soil. As soil dry, clay minerals become dry and shrink, trapping K tightly between mineral layers. Once trapped, K is unavailable to plant roots for uptake. This K is released and plant available again when the soil moisture increases. Reduce K uptake during extended dry soil conditions can show up as low K levels in tissue samples or high K levels in a post-harvest soil sample.

Remember " what is visible represents what is invisible "

Not my words , taking from someone sensible though

One reason that living soil growers have such great success is that we don’t do this silly thing of “drying out” our soil. We approach growing by growing our microbe herd and letting the microbes worry about feeding and growing the plants. In order to do this, we don’t take our soil through huge swings from wet to dry. Instead, we try to keep our soil at a constant moisture level where it has enough water but is also able to breathe. The whole “dry out” thing is very misunderstood and taken way too far by a lot of growers. IMO, it came about as a practice to combat the typical over watering that many growers do and to deal with some pest issues (that could be solved with other methods) – not because it’s actually ‘best practice’ for growing cannabis and most other plants.

Sheesh... I see I hit a nerve with a simple frown. Insecure in our beliefs, are we?

Nutty, all due respect, but you grow differently than most of us do. You keep huge terrariums of living soil, which you happen to grow our weeds in. You have much more than just simple microbes going on in there, you have a complete ecosystem, with multicell and complex critters in there along with your microbes. Of course you need to keep this little mini earth moist... no question.

But, you are NOT growing in potting soil as 99.99% of us are doing, and to make blanket pronouncements against well known watering practices and to say that yours is the only way... that got you a frown. While sitting in a water source and allowing water to seep into your living ecosystem might work for you, it can mean a much less fruitful grow for those of us in mere soil. Oxygen is being produced by the second inside of your soil by all the life going on in there, but we are not so lucky... we need to pull it down to the roots using physical means, which means watering from the top and allowing the water table to fall and pull that oxygen down.

And then you try to justify your blanket pronouncement against everything I believe in, you tried to prove your point using someone else's words out of context, saying that letting your containers dry out is harmful. I can easily see how drying out your living terrarium is terrifying to you, and all your rented words on "science" talked about were the extremes and what happens during extended drought periods, not what we do. I know for a FACT that drying my container down the last inch or so, not to the point where the plant is slumped over and dying, but letting the plant use most of the water that is in there and maybe start wilting a little, produces healthy, strong and vibrant fast growing plants. I can't tell you how many people come in here asking for help because they overwater their plants by watering too often... basically following the advice that you have just given.

So yes, you got a frown. Your last advice is harmful to a very large percentage of us. All your words above about sending our plants to the extremes were an attempt to throw emotionality into the argument, comparing it to not giving a human water for a week, and emotional arguments have no place here. I thought we had an agreement... but I think you just implied that I, and all my thoughts on watering and the wet/dry cycle, are not sensible. I am very disappointed in this and I am frowning at you right now as I write these words.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

i am growing in potting soil ,peat , coco , compost , perlite , i made just like ocean forest or other coco/ peat base mixes , another reason not to let dry out . or am i missing something ? ,
ill get some of the amendments you use this run geoflora ill see if i can get it , and ill do the same run

 

[Emilya Green]

i am growing in potting soil ,peat , coco , compost , perlite , i made just like ocean forest or other coco/ peat base mixes , another reason not to let dry out . or am i missing something ? ,
ill get some of the amendments you use this run geoflora ill see if i can get it , and ill do the same run

you have to top feed and top water geoflora... i don't see your point.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

you have to top feed and top water geoflora... i don't see your point.

You will when it arrives and i set up a geoflora grow journal , its just awkward for me to get , but where there is a will there is a way ,

 

[parrajara]

@NuttyProfessor and @Emilya , so much love for both of you. I know Nutty meant no ill-will, and I know Emilya is always meticulous in her suggestions. I value both of your advices a lot. I will continue watering from the top, but I am also excited to see what kind of info Nutty can get with this new grow he's going to attempt

Pretty perplexed as to why some leaves are pale white at the tips... but I am just going to continue doing my thing and hope for the best... cause I can't figure it out.

 

[Reave]

I also enjoy the back and forth and in fact I learned something. These exchanges are what I love about this place. I just started growing in coots and wondered why I am able to keep the soil moist as per the direction I was given which seemed contrary to what I had learned in my previous grows. Thank you both so much. @Emilya and @NuttyProfessor

 

[Dunnysparks]

I am just reaching out because I have ran out of ideas. I have tried several different things with this plant, but nothing seems to help her.

The issue started when the plant was rootbound. I waited to long to transplant it, which affected my plant. I don't think this would persist for a month though? I mean, the plant recovered fairly well after transplant, but eventually continued to deteriorate. About 2-3 weeks into being in the soil, I experimented with top feeding it a little bit. I honestly can't tell if it helped or not, but I don't think so. I also don't think it made the situation worse.

Every time I water my plant it takes it about a day to actually perk up... it perks up for a day and than droops again, well before the next watering is required. The leaves have severe discoloration going on, and it continues to spread.

Things I have tried/considered:
- I have been pHing my water for 3 cycles now, as the buffer in the FFOF was over. Don't think it is pH from the soil/nutrients because my other plant is doing well, and that one I actually amended part of the FFOF soil to experiment.
- It is not environmental (humidity, temperature, etc), I have 2 other plants thriving in that environment (one same strain).
- I have been watering until there is a decent amount of run-off. I haven't done a full flush because in my small carpeted condo that will be a lot of work, but this I suspect this may help - so if others confirm I will go ahead and put in the work.

My best guess is that the roots are damaged, and never fully recovered, so there is a nutrient lockout from their inability to absorb nutrients? I have had some full on yellow leaves come out of this plant, which is a clear sign of nitrogen deficiency. But the weird colors going on, and the pattern.... I just have no idea. Please help me save this plant, it's over 70 days old... can't afford to buy weed 2 more months lol...this grow set up cost a lot more than I initially anticipated.

I posted a side by side picture of the healthy and sick plant. You can see the sick one has a "whiter" looking green, not even lime green anymore. Also posted a couple of pictures of it inside the tent. All others I took in natural light.

The lighter plant looks like it needs more nitrogen. Wht are u feeding them? Try fox farms big grow once a week general feeding for veg. I hate fabric pots I have had mold issues in the past with them. The problem was tht u cant let those fabric pots sit in water and dont bottom feed either. You can get pot elevators for cheap and place them in saucers tht way your pot never sits in runoff water. I stay away from fabric pots never had luck with them. I would suggest cleaning or defoliation of all those lower leaves tht are dying. Any big leaves blocking pretty flowers get rid of them and flip your light cycle to 12/12. The yellowing and decaying of lower leaves is normal because there getting the least amount of light and really dont need them. Get rid of those lower dead leaves and get some air circulating below your canopy. I've had worse looking plants and still yielded a few ounces of quality bud. Good luck and hit me up if you need any advice.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

you have to top feed and top water geoflora... i don't see your point.

Morning Emilya hope your fine and dandy , i had a little look at the products

Alfalfa Meal, Bat Guano, Blood Meal, Bone Meal, Composted Turkey Litter, Crustacean Meal, Feather Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Protein Hydrolysate, Kelp Meal (Macrocystis pyrifera), Magnesium Sulfate, Natural Volcanic Ash, Neem Seed Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Rock Phosphate.

Its basically a super soil mix but blended , my plan is to use as a super soil , i think i have seen some grower use the amendments like this also rather than adding to the top ,some even add to compost teas , so there is a few others trying other ways and not just myself
anyways ill have a go using it as a super soil mix with bottom watering and keeping the medium moist , who knows it might work just as well, the other important part is to aerate the tops of your soil with a kebab screwier or chop sticks , i do my pots every day as it takes minutes and gives peace of mind ,then the dry amendments soak down better
I sort of did a spin off using waste fruit and veg for (K) as i seen a leaf showing a (k) def , very bottom leaf

 

[NuttyProfessor]

close enough , ill give this a whirl and get a journal going , @Emilya . should be interesting , I will start my seed in a 7 gallon pot , this means adding 2/3 x 5 = 10/3 = 3 1/3 cups to my starting medium , to be honest i think you will get a better deal for your money amending highly and doing a bottom water
should be starting this in a weeks time , chopping one today so another will go in its place
i have messaged Geoflora just waiting on an answer , but for now this is as close as it gets ,

ta daaaaaaaa ! the white is lime

 

[parrajara]

The lighter plant looks like it needs more nitrogen. Wht are u feeding them? Try fox farms big grow once a week general feeding for veg. I hate fabric pots I have had mold issues in the past with them. The problem was tht u cant let those fabric pots sit in water and dont bottom feed either. You can get pot elevators for cheap and place them in saucers tht way your pot never sits in runoff water. I stay away from fabric pots never had luck with them. I would suggest cleaning or defoliation of all those lower leaves tht are dying. Any big leaves blocking pretty flowers get rid of them and flip your light cycle to 12/12. The yellowing and decaying of lower leaves is normal because there getting the least amount of light and really dont need them. Get rid of those lower dead leaves and get some air circulating below your canopy. I've had worse looking plants and still yielded a few ounces of quality bud. Good luck and hit me up if you need any advice.

Hey Dunny, thank you for taking your time to stop by! I am feeding them Gaia green organic nutrients, a mixture of all purpose 4-4-4 and bloom 2-8-4. I am also giving them Gaia green EWC. According to the manufacturer the plants should be fed once a month, and I fed them 2x in the last month already. They never fully regained their green after feeding them, but they did partially. @013 did suggest it was NItrogen as well, and the reason I believe that may not be the issue, is because after feeding them on April 12th and 13th they got a bit better but not fully green... and as of today it has only been 13 days since last feeding them.

When I posted about the issue it was on April 18th, only 5-6 days after feeding the plants. By the 7th day of feeding them, 013 suggested it was Nitrogen deficiency. How can the plants go through full months supply in less than a week? In a matter of days? Emilya has taught me that a plant that stays in vegetation for longer period will develop more, and stronger, roots. This means the plant will consume more food, and perhaps more than what manufacturers suggest... opposite to my initial belief - that manufacturers suggested you use more food, to increase their profitability.

Last feeding I also gave them an extra tablespoon of fertilizer from the monthly recommended dose... Is it likely they really consumed over a months supply in a matter of days? Or is there another phenomena that is inhibiting their ability to properly consume already available nutrients... ?

 

[parrajara]

On 1 nug leaves now

 

[NuttyProfessor]

i wouldn't use much more of the nutes with the high (P) the 2/8/4 bloom as the plants use (P) early veg roots then early flower and there could end up and excess of (p) it will lock out zinc , iron then mag

i do not know but the way i see it
you feed the top , then water , then if you let dry completely, the inputs dry out , the microbes sleep , you water again to run off you leach out the dry amendments you put in the last time , then your feeding again , let go bone dry then wash them out again , to me it doesn't make sense as there is no real time for microbes, the plant, the soil and the product to work PROPERLY TOGETHER, your just running it down the sink hole and wasting money and you lose better growth
It just niggles my head , but then again what would i know

well here you go , right from the makers of gia gree

1. *Note: Do not over water! Do not let your soil completely dry out!
2. Maintain moist but not soggy soil for happy healthy plants.
   
   

 

[parrajara]

i wouldn't use much more of the nutes with the high (P) the 2/8/4 bloom as the plants use (P) early veg roots then early flower and there could end up and excess of (p) it will lock out zinc , iron then mag

i do not know but the way i see it
you feed the top , then water , then if you let dry completely, the inputs dry out , the microbes sleep , you water again to run off you leach out the dry amendments you put in the last time , then your feeding again , let go bone dry then wash them out again , to me it doesn't make sense as there is no real time for microbes, the plant, the soil and the product to work PROPERLY TOGETHER, your just running it down the sink hole and wasting money and you lose better growth
It just niggles my head , but then again what would i know

well here you go , right from the makers of gia gree

1. *Note: Do not over water! Do not let your soil completely dry out!
2. Maintain moist but not soggy soil for happy healthy plants.
   
   

Thank you professor! I'm sure many of the things I do are questionable, hence I come to the forum for help. Science was never my strong suit, and my knowledge in regards to growing is very limited. I have switched off from the wet/dry cycle, or so I thought. Perhaps I should water even more often than I already am.

 

[Emilya Green]

Yes, I gave Nutty another wow. He is advising you to throw out centuries of advice on using closed containers and having you switch to an almost hydro (water based) system, discounting all the good things about soil based on his personal assumptions. While with tweaking, you will be able to get his system to work and maybe will be able to get through without root rot and stunted plants, but this is NOT the normal way of doing things. Nutty seems to be on a campaign now to discredit my idea of the wet/dry cycle and even went in and disliked my message on my watering thread that announced that I had hit 300,000 views, and he is now using your grow to try to prove that my methods don't work as well as his methods.

Good luck on this nutty adventure and I hope you do well with it. Since it is so easy to hurt our plants by watering too often, I will never accept this method as the best way to advise new growers of weeds to go, but please... give it a good try and lets see how it goes for you. I will be very curious to see what happens, but please know that you are on your own with the Professor on this... I have no further advice to give regarding this method. I will stop watching this thread because I have nothing else to offer and I will not be accused of trolling the good professor, even though he did me, on my own signature thread.

I wish you both well. --Emmie

 

[parrajara]

Yes, I gave Nutty another wow. He is advising you to throw out centuries of advice on using closed containers and having you switch to an almost hydro (water based) system, discounting all the good things about soil based on his personal assumptions. While with tweaking, you will be able to get his system to work and maybe will be able to get through without root rot and stunted plants, but this is NOT the normal way of doing things. Nutty seems to be on a campaign now to discredit my idea of the wet/dry cycle and even went in and disliked my message on my watering thread that announced that I had hit 300,000 views, and he is now using your grow to try to prove that my methods don't work as well as his methods.

Good luck on this nutty adventure and I hope you do well with it. Since it is so easy to hurt our plants by watering too often, I will never accept this method as the best way to advise new growers of weeds to go, but please... give it a good try and lets see how it goes for you. I will be very curious to see what happens, but please know that you are on your own with the Professor on this... I have no further advice to give regarding this method. I will stop watching this thread because I have nothing else to offer and I will not be accused of trolling the good professor, even though he did me, on my own signature thread.

I wish you both well. --Emmie

Hey @Emilya, I'm sorry this thread has led to this. It was never my intention. I never once deviated from your advise/suggestions. I switched off from the wet/dry cycle as per your suggestion, to water a little more often in bloom and every 4 waterings or so let them fully dry out. Anyway, it saddens me that I can no longer count on your support - as it has been extremely valuable for my grow.... and to be quite honest, you are the only person I have listened to every single time. Many have offered advised which I have tried to better understand, by asking more questions about it. I don't automatically disregard anyone's advise, since I am new... but I do ask questions so that I can better understand their point of view and proceed to conduct my own research thereafter. Your advise, however, seems to be the exception... As you are thorough and carefully analyze my specific situation before providing advise... so yeah, sucks to have you believe I am not on the same page as you.

Thanks for the well wishes... and I hope you can reconsider. Wishing you all the best Emilya.

 

[Emilya Green]

I have overreacted my friend, but I thought when you said you were off the wet/dry cycle that you meant you were no longer following that advice... I didn't consider the bloom thing. I leapt to this erroneous interpretation of your words after getting a sad face on my very celebratory 300,000 views post on my watering thread, from our nutty friend... it's always the little things that hurt the most, and I thought that you had been convinced that the wet/dry cycle was no longer to be followed, ever.

I must admit that I find myself greatly relieved by your last post, so thank you. Even if you do want to experiment with Nutty's suggestions, I am fine with that... we do need to experiment and put this bottom watering thing in its proper place. It does seem to work for some people and I really would like to see a side by side someday to compare both methods. I just get my feathers ruffled when I put a lot of time and effort into helping someone and then someone else comes along to dispute my advice and take them down another path. I'm not always right, but I do have a strong track record and I try very hard to help people not make the mistakes that I did when I was new.

So, I am very sorry that I emotionally reacted to your words in a way that you didn't mean. Written language is funny that way sometimes... you don't get to see someone's face and emotions when they are speaking, and misinterpretations happen. I just took it wrong after being trolled by our friend on one of the most happy threads I have ever posted, and I happen to be a very emotional lady, which makes it even worse. Please accept my apology and let's move on from here.

 

[parrajara]

I have overreacted my friend, but I thought when you said you were off the wet/dry cycle that you meant you were no longer following that advice... I didn't consider the bloom thing. I leapt to this erroneous interpretation of your words after getting a sad face on my very celebratory 300,000 views post on my watering thread, from our nutty friend... it's always the little things that hurt the most, and I thought that you had been convinced that the wet/dry cycle was no longer to be followed, ever.

I must admit that I find myself greatly relieved by your last post, so thank you. Even if you do want to experiment with Nutty's suggestions, I am fine with that... we do need to experiment and put this bottom watering thing in its proper place. It does seem to work for some people and I really would like to see a side by side someday to compare both methods. I just get my feathers ruffled when I put a lot of time and effort into helping someone and then someone else comes along to dispute my advice and take them down another path. I'm not always right, but I do have a strong track record and I try very hard to help people not make the mistakes that I did when I was new.

So, I am very sorry that I emotionally reacted to your words in a way that you didn't mean. Written language is funny that way sometimes... you don't get to see someone's face and emotions when they are speaking, and misinterpretations happen. I just took it wrong after being trolled by our friend on one of the most happy threads I have ever posted, and I happen to be a very emotional lady, which makes it even worse. Please accept my apology and let's move on from here.

No harm done Emilya, I'm happy to have you back on board! I would not neglect the advice that has helped me so much thus far. I also believe there is a place and time for experimenting; however, my grow right now is not it... hehe. I look forward to following Nutty's experiments, and perhaps trying some of my own in the future.


I am ready to move on, and keep on bugging you guys with questions about my grow

 

[NuttyProfessor]

This stared when i said , " maybe try bottom water next time " you got the same face on your post to see how you would react and you got just as annoyed
my system is the furthest thing from hydro ,its only moist soil where the plants thrive and the microbes work and the nutrients are always there for the plant without drying out and then getting drowned , its unnecessary STRESS emilya

any way ,
drying to the bone you lose the cie cat ion exchange , you kill fine roots, you slow the microbe herd down to nothing , the medium becomes hydrophobic, you get a large perched water table after heavy watering then , your nutes become less available as they become solids over time . you use more nutrients
There is a lot of negatives about going too dry ,
This is all i have to bring to this table also , maybe the post who started the thread should do a little side by side

good luck mate , but do some reading on CIE , and on dry roots, and the benefits of moist soil v dry when ORGANIC