So my 4 cups of water has turned into 16 cups it’s a 4 cup measuring cup , I try not to let my soil completely dry out I’m doing organic supersoil with dry amendments , I am relying on microbial life and fungus to feed break down material to make it readily available for my plant . If I let my soil completely dry out I risk killing most of my microbial life. Which I have done a few times on my mint chocolate og grow. But in my grow space I have a lot of air exchange and with fabric pots my souls does dry out fast so I at 5-10% of the volume of medium of water to maintain a moist environment , not a wet one. And after a few days sometimes only a day I take the time to put as much water into the medium as it can hold. But this is a very big plant with a massive root ball the reason I add 4 cups of water to the top in between waterings is so the top of my medium , where most of my micro life is , doesn’t dry out on me , I tip dress with worm castings to constantly re introduce more micro life , I hope that gives a little more light on what I’m doing .