I water by hand so that I have to come face to face (as it were) with the legions of weeds I cultivate and maybe get inspired to pull up the biggest ones. Fortunately my solenoid has not required replacement!
Almost all of the leaves on the potted bands I bought this year turned brown, usually from the tips, and fell off. This included roses from two suppliers. But in all the cases I can think of, the canes stayed green and the roses put out more leaves. Because they are all new, I've been watering every day, usually just before dusk. And I check the next morning and notice that the ground is still moist. (Easy since it dips into 50's at night here)
If it's not how much water that's in the soil, then it must be something that interferes with water uptake Not sure what that would be. Would build-up of salts cause water uptake to suffer seriously? Or could dryness cause the death of beneficial microbes that help with water uptake?
I once planted Penelope on the north side of my house in NJ. It grew wonderfully for a year. Then there was a dry spell and it collapsed. I moved it to a place where I could water it more regularly, and it never recovered. It makes me wonder if sometimes dryness will cause some transformation in the roots, maybe kill a beneficial organism there, causing them not to work properly again. It certainly did not happen with Buff Beauty whose roots roasted under four inches of compacted clay next to a driveway. So I guess response to dry soil might depend on the cultivar. FWIW.
