Northern Lights by WEED ME

I am wondering if my plants are slow to develop, or if they have been focusing their energy on developing their roots - progress I would be excited about, but I cant see. I have raised my lights from 24" to 30" and increased the brightness to 100%. I am only running a 100 watt Spider Farmer SF 1000 in a 27" x 27" x 63" tent, so I figure I can use all the power. I am letting my soil really dry out in order to give the roots more oxygen. I had been watering lightly with a spray bottle each day, and I wonder if I am stunting the growth by keeping the soil moist. I can see the soil cracking and pulling away from the sides of the pot, but I am going to look at the condition of the plant to determine when to water it. I check on my plants a couple times a day, so I believe I will be able to get them water as soon as they need it. **Update** I identified fungus gnats were present in my tent. That explained the slow growth and the twisted and deformed leaves. Apparently gnats are a common problem in organic soil. They lay eggs in the top 2 inches of soil if it is moist. If you let the soil dry out, the larva die off because they need a moist environment to live. I let the soil dry out for 2 days so far. The gnats are all gone, and the plants are enjoying the oxygen. I dug down in the soil near the edge of the pot and the soil is still moist, so I am going to hold off on watering until I see the plants start to droop. The growth seems to have sped up as well. New leaves are forming, and new branches are starting to form at the nodes.