When to water my plants

What do you guys think of this method of knowing when to water again? I wait about 3 days after watering my plants then stick 4 wooden skewers into the soil around my plant, keep it there for about 5 minutes then pull them out i then put them next to this meter i made

which tells me how many days to wait to check the moisture again. once the moisture line on all the 4 skewers i pulled out of the soil lines up with the “water now” section, thats the day ill water again. Which is about when 80-85% of the pot is dry.

I checked the soil moisture yesterday morning and the moisture line on the skewer was at the 1day mark so I checked my soil moisture again this morning and it was on the “water now” mark, so i watered my plant today which was about 4 days since the last watering. I water in about 15% of the volume of the pot. So for my 5gallon pot i use 3/4 gallon. The plant wasnt droopy at all with only 15% of the soil moist.

Water when pots are almost dry then fully saturate. Repeat as needed. All plants, containers and such are going to be different.

Allowing plants roots to entirely dry out will result in wilting which is bad.

When your pots are dry and need watering, pick them up. Make a mental note of the weight. Then water them properly.

Pick them up again. Notice the weight difference? The watered plant should weigh more, obviously. Then check them over the corse of a few days. You will notice them get lighter. When light like when you first weighted them by hand, should be dry and needing water. And dry doesn’t mean bone dry to where the plant wants to die.

When I was in soil, that’s how I gauged when to water, by weight. I know many others do as well. Also keep in mind that the plant will drink more or less water depending on its needs, at various stages of its life. Don’t always count on watering every specific few days or whatever. Water when they need it…which is why I favor weighing them by hand.

That's an old gardening trick many people use. Not exactly how you're doing it but like sticking a toothpick in when you're baking a cake. If it comes out with batter on it it's not done. If it comes out clean the cake is done. In the case of a potted plant if it comes out wet with soil it doesn't need water and if it comes out clean water it.

It's much easier to just feel the weight of the pot.

But kudos to you for thinking outside the box.