(You sure ask a lot of questions for a girl).Just kidding ya.Well,first off when you sever the plant from the roots,you pretty much have cut off the water supply.Hence Real Drying out process begins.Just because the top of the soil feels dry,Dosen't mean the bottom is completely dry yet,their is probably still a little moisture the roots can pull from.Put your finger all the way to the bottom of the pot and feel for moist soil.Or just look at the wilt ,dying cannabis loosing it's moisture collapses fast.I personally do not water before chop,because humidity here in the South is a concern.Do not rush the drying,anymore than the curing.Jar too wet a bud and get mold,it's game over.You get no resets or oops I goofed let me try to fix it.You are done.You can dry with a small fan to hasten the drying process but most. folks don't recommend it.I have to use fans and drying racks,because humidity is usually in the low 70 to 90 % range in late Aug.Early September here.Tried drying just natural one year,lost the whole crop to mold,except one measly stalk.I also have to break up my colas into individual buds for drying faster so no big looking buds for me.But I like small nugs anyway. Hope this Helped