I live in a state where we just legalized, and I've been helping people grow for a couple decades.
I have gotten just this question a number of times.
My answer after looking into the problem?
You are watering too infrequently. Your growing medium should never get to where water runs off it like a duck's back.
That only happens to me when it gets too dry, or when I mix fresh soil.
Otherwise, the water in the medium wicks the water into the medium.
If the medium is dry, the microlife is dead.
Perhaps you are using an untreated coco in your base soil? A little Yucca, such as was advised earlier, will condition the soil.
Water less, and more frequently.
Fabric pots are just superior in practice in the grow room.
Plastic pots have their place, and they are great for using over and over to pot and repot plants, but they are not great for a plant like cannabis, bred to be an athlete, which will process water like an electric pump.
As a 'final home', plastic pots tend to create dead zones in the center, due to excess moisture, airless conditions, and anaerobic bacteria.
Fabric pots are much more forgiving, and in fact wick water away from the pot to avoid anaerobic bacteria being present in the soil. Yes, fabric pots do lead to water loss, but that's not always a bad thing in a closed environment. I manage my low humidity with my fabric pots.
If you worry about the air pruning reducing the size of the root ball, get a bigger pot.
That would be my answer if asked.
Truth is, fabric pots raise humidity in your grow, you must water more frequently, and eventually the plants will 'eat' them and they will fall apart.
But plastic pots could result in a sluggish plant that doesn't seem happy no matter what you do.
It's all about how much time you have and the state of your grow.
Experience from trying different things will tell you what works best for you.
(oh, I live in a wealthy area where people want the BEST!, and I personally know of a half dozen blumat systems piled up in garages, because they almost always result in root rot unless you are standing over your planter all the time - they are not so plug and play as folks say)
