Soil Moisture Meters...Do They Work?

I get so tired of trying to guess when my plants need water. Does anyone here use a soil moisture meter? Do they work?

Or should I just keep using my best guesses until I develop a real feel for when to water my plants?

Thanks

I was born with ten soil moister meters.. called my fingers. A few inches down and if it's dry.. you're dry.. in containers it's called the kick test. You walk by and kick the container (not hard) but enough to get a feel for how heavy it is. If it fly's across the yard then you're dry.. but if there is a solid thump then you know it's still got some juice in it. You'll get a feel for it. You'll know to water more when it's hot and or windy and when it can ride cause it's been cool. Don't rely on some meter.. It's a crutch.

soil moisture meters are garbage!! Lift up a bone dry pot and feel what it weighs. thatll give you an idea. like he said ! ... use your fingers.... a couple inches deep and still dry its time to water! I dont water heavey. I find it better to water lightly more often (2-3 days) instead of drenching the soil.

Well yall, I kinda expected those kind of responses...technology can take us only so far...I agree...I will forego the meters and learn to use my fingers and educated senses to tell me when to water...

Thanks

I expected those responses, also. Except I disagree. They are an excellant learning tool and will make you better at discerning the different levels of wet to dry soil. Just don't depend on it. I use mine often with the weed plants although rarely with other plants in the hort industry. I have a $10 meter. Do you need it? No. Would I buy another one? Yes.

i learned the lift-a-pot method and over time you will become a pro at knowing what and how much water your plant needs and in all the different size containers you use, just by consistently lifting up your pots. Lift 'em up after you water, lift 'em up when you say "oh shit they're wilting" and lift 'em up everywhere in between, in no time it will become 2nd nature and i don't even finger my soil anymore, unless it's for fun

Just a fyi. It's 100 with 5% humidity today, which is typical here, usually with winds. I have started doing partial waterings this past month to compensate for the upper portion of the soil drying out so fast. The pot will feel heavy/wet and still need a topping off. It's a pain but with 2" of mulch and the partial watering they are getting better root development up top.

Hasbroh said:

I expected those responses, also. Except I disagree. They are an excellant learning tool and will make you better at discerning the different levels of wet to dry soil. Just don't depend on it. I use mine often with the weed plants although rarely with other plants in the hort industry. I have a $10 meter. Do you need it? No. Would I buy another one? Yes.

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this. they are not going to save your grow in any way, but if you are unsure of yourself they are perfectly fine. for a noob, they are a perfect way to understand what "dry" really is. the finger test is useless imo. it may be dry in the top few inches but plenty moist at the bottom. best bet is the "how heavy is it" test. the meter just gives you a better idea of what weight correlates to what moisture content. also, if your plant spends a long time in the same pot, the plant itself will eventually add a significant amount of weight as it grows.

one of the main perks of a water meter though is the fact that you can stick it in a couple places AFTER you water to determine whether you have dry pockets. this is especially useful if you water when the plant is bone dry. bone dry plants don't absorb water very evenly unless you let the pot sit in water for a bit.

i've been growing for years and i still use mine from time to time. it cost me a whole 7 bucks and it also has a halfway decent light meter on it. (by halfway decent i mean i can tell whether my hps is weaker than 6 months ago, not that it accurately measures light)

Total Head said:

one of the main perks of a water meter though is the fact that you can stick it in a couple places AFTER you water to determine whether you have dry pockets. this is especially useful if you water when the plant is bone dry. bone dry plants don't absorb water very evenly unless you let the pot sit in water for a bit.

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One of the main reasons I water each plant a little bit several times.

Edit: here's a good example for using a meter. Today I'm a little nervous as it's going to be 108 degrees. Just fertilized two days ago and they have full sun from 6:00 am to at least 4:00 in the hottest part of the yard. I watered the rest of the garden but used the meter on the weed and it said wet so I'm holding off. They haven't been soaked for two days, just a little top watering. If I wasn't going to be around all day I would have watered anyway.

I know this old post but the optimal answer for cannabis cultivation was supplied last by Total Head, agree with him 100%. Another one of its other benifits I would like to make anyone aware of is that you can drill a 1/4 in. hole in the side of the pot and insert it sideways and get an accurate reading at the bottom area or your dirt, if you can't get the probe deep enough that is.(ex. 7 gallon pots or larger). For the cost of the meter it can be 1000x worth it. Also, I'm notta noob grower, neither indoors nor out and I use and rely 100% on that cheap ass mechanical meter daily. Happy Thanksgiving RIU peeps.

The cheapy $5-10 meters are incredibly inaccurate for the well-aerated soilless mixes we use indoors.

If you want a REAL moisture meter, look into soil tensiometers like the Irrometer MLT.

http://www.berryhilldrip.com/Irrometer-Mini-Low-Tension-Irrometers.html

This neat little tool is on my Christmas list. Not because I need it, but because the engineer in me WANTS it.

I know this is a really old thread and I am new here, but I thought I would put this here in case someone needs to know how much water they have in their plants, and hopefully it will help someone. I over-watered one of my plants and she started to wilt. I knew I had done bad and my plant is now recovering. I was surprised to find out that small bamboo sticks can help you gauge the moisture in the soil. Bamboo sticks absorb water. If you put these sticks in the soil, wait for 20-30 minutes, then pull them out, you can see exactly where the water is in your soil, and if its wet or not. So what I did was place 4 sticks around the soil. I've been pulling them all out and checking my soil. I can even see the water level in the soil using this. The ends of my bamboo sticks are still wet, while the middle to the tops you can see are drying out. I am not sure how well those moisture meters work. I don't have one, but this method is telling me exactly where the moisture is and if its too much at the roots. I will probably buy a meter, but until then this method is kind of trick and works well.

The reason that some look down on soil moisture meters is because of the plethora of crappy and cheap ones that don't actually work well... but not all meters are bad. I use this soil moisture sensor in my house for my potted plants, and I actually have been very pleased with it. Although Serpentz's method of bamboo is cool (I actually am going to try it when I have a spare moment), the meter that I use is instantaneous rather than waiting for 25 minutes. And although I know that I can just stick my fingers in the soil, there are times that I just don't really want to get my hands dirty (I know, call me weird). ANYWAYS, I just saw that many people were dissing on a soil moisture meter, and I needed to announce that they aren't all that bad, just depends on the ones that you get.

BillyBonnie said:

I get so tired of trying to guess when my plants need water. Does anyone here use a soil moisture meter? Do they work?

Or should I just keep using my best guesses until I develop a real feel for when to water my plants?

Thanks

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To the OP.
I find the inaccurate IMOP.

did any of you notice those weird white "threads" that come out when you stick your fingers 2-3" in the soil? It feels like they rip whenever i put my finger in there.
I think they call them "roots", but it shouldn't matter if i rip and pull them up trying to gauge how wet the soil is. I'll just keep doing it anyways. thanks guys

BillyBonnie said:

I get so tired of trying to guess when my plants need water. Does anyone here use a soil moisture meter? Do they work?

Or should I just keep using my best guesses until I develop a real feel for when to water my plants?

Thanks

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Pick up the plant and container when you first set it up.Water it regularly and pick it up again. It's as accurate as a cheap moisture meter for sure. You do not need any meter. Just don't overwater.

I love water meters. Mine isn't even accurate. But based on experience I know how to read it to determine when to water. So it is superior to me trying to lift a 65 gallon pot. My root mass is way to thick to stick a finger in 2 or 3 inches.

10 bucks from bunnings... worth it IMO, especially if you have large pots and want to check down at the root base. Top could be dry but a 10inch probe is better then digger I feel !

I know this is an old thread, but I finished reading the whole Internet and am starting over again...moisture meters are fabulous for the newbie. They may not be accurate, but they can be a tool to help you develop when to exactly water. I prefer a meter to a digital readout. If you wait for the meter to say DRY...you missed the ideal time to water...measure the soil when you first load in the soil...before you dampen. That is your low end watering point. They can be invaluable to learning and education, kinda like your first girlfriend or boyfriend, in the Chevy practicing your night moves.invaluable.

I love the "LIFT UP A DRY POT AND REMEMBER METHOD" come on! you're friggin pot smokers - short term memory issues! hello?

of course meters are accurate!. It is just that the top two inches are dryer than the bottom root zone. Then you also need to consider you can have wet and dry spots around the pot. ....but lift and remember if that helps you retain information.