5/1/2023 0 Comments Finicky plants![]() When in fact the soil is dry and probably needs to be watered NOW!Įven if you do get a decent moisture meter, you’ll be paying a lot more money for something that that will be adding a lot of unnecessary work and that still may not be that accurate. If your meter indicates “wet” and your soil is actually dry to the touch, you would likely be inclined to ignore your plant for a while because the meter told you so. “My soil moisture meter tells me that it doesn’t need anymore water.” I’ve heard this so many times. There are many factors that go into houseplant care, and using a moisture meter takes the thinking out of plant care and this can be very dangerous. But what would you expect from something that only costs a few dollars? 3. The simple fact that you can’t calibrate them against a known standard is troublesome. ![]() Besides, any good piece of measuring equipment will need to be calibrated. They may work initially when brand new (maybe), but they won’t withstand frequent use. Most of them will give you false readings that you simply can’t trust. ![]() We’ve all seen them in nurseries and hardware stores. They’re not even worth the few dollars that you spend on them. Most of the soil moisture meters available on the market are just plain junk. Most are junk and you can’t calibrate them If you have a very porous, chunky mix with a lot of air, such as orchid bark mixes, it will yield very awful, misleading readings. While water is a good conductor of electricity, it is not the only factor.ĭepending on the composition of the soil you have, as well as the presence of various fertilizer salts that are present, you can get very different and very misleading results.Įven if it you use tap water that has is very hard, over time, minerals can build up in the soil and your moisture meter will give false readings. They measure (or try to measure) conductivity. Shockingly enough, they don’t actually measure water content! Why You Shouldn’t Use a Soil Moisture Meter for Indoor Plants 1. A Ficus elastica that has suffered from its owner relying on a moisture meterĪnd her Aglaonema doesn’t look like it suffered quite as badly, but the plant has collapsed and and is very dehydrated. It is severely dehydrated and one of the trunks appears to be completely defoliated. “Do you have any suggestions as to how to keep these plants from dying? I use a water meter and they haven’t needed to water them for months.”įor months! Take a look at her poor rubber plant below. I wanted to share this example and then tell you what you should be doing instead of using a soil moisture meter. Let me give you one example of one particular case that illustrates my point very well. Yet they trusted them and thought that they were doing the right thing, despite their plants drooping from dehydration. Soil moisture meters are not only unnecessary, but they can also be very dangerous to your indoor plants!Ĭountless people have messaged me, both through my blog and my Instagram site that were using moisture meters with disastrous results. My reputation is worth more to me than that, and I would be doing a disservice to my readers! Why?īecause I would not promote something that I don’t believe in and that doesn’t work. ![]() I could easily include an affiliate link and try to get you to buy various moisture meters, but I’m not going to do that. ![]()
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