Awww what? He isn't on here anymore? That'd be a darn shame, he's helped my ass with a LOT. Mainly keeping things simple and sticking to the basics. I was always in some sort of rabbit hole until he'd lend a hand. I do recall him mentioning that he runs a shop/business of sorts (I believe?) and that he rarely has time to post when it's a busy time of year for him.
You (and grease of course
) are totally right about using the smart pots to cook the soil in for the same reason you want to look at no-till growing and that is that you are in fact maintaining these webs the microbes are making. By shoveling it into containers you are breaking them apart. This is the exact reason I run no-till, so I'm surprised I never realized that before haha!
I wouldn't take that bet though, because you would win. Not only are you transplanting into a living and thriving soil, but the webs they worked so hard to create are undisturbed. Sprinkle some mycorrhizae onto the roots when you transplant and you are beyond golden.
Just wanted to echo these sentiments for the OP. You'll know when you can go crazy with watering and it will usually be sometime before flower or during the flower stretch. Some summers I would water my girls to 3-4 times a day. It is MUCH better to underwater than to overwater though, so please keep that in mind if and when in doubt about when to water.
I also didn't see the part about you doing guerilla growing, but tread with utmost caution and spend as little time and money as possible on it. Cops aren't even your main concern for the most part, rippers are. Cops likely won't find you and likely won't care if you keep things small enough. Don't make it worth the paperwork for them. Be careful OP, and hoping for the best.