Moisture Tester

This is the first time I've used one in 6 successful and one unsuccessful grow. But for some reason my last grow wound up getting over watered and I was worried they were under watered. So now I have a moisture meter from Wal Mart. Anyone else use one of these and how reliable are they. Thanks.

I have one. It is called a finger. It has never failed me in detecting moisture.

i just got a cheapo moisture meter myself yesterday. so far it looks like its accurate enough. they wouldnt sell to many if they plain just didnt work

Calibrate it.... See what it reads when your plant needs water and right it down then water it and see what it reads don't go by what it says go by what it means.... Preferably poke your finger in and feel the weight of the pot, that it's the best way.... Water when it's light and don't when it's heavy

tusseltussel said:

Calibrate it.... See what it reads when your plant needs water and right it down then water it and see what it reads don't go by what it says go by what it means.... Preferably poke your finger in and feel the weight of the pot, that it's the best way.... Water when it's light and don't when it's heavy

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I did, i has some very dry soil left over that was just sitting around, so i bought my wife a flower and before i transplanted the flower into the soil i stuck the meter in, it registered a 1. then i transplanted and watered the soil, of course it registered a 10. then i stuck it into my 3g pot pots that i watered several days ago and it came up between 5-7 dependign on the size of the plant, the ones that were still seedlings had more moisture then the older larger ones. all these measurments made sense to me

They work good. I've had mine since the 80's. pick your containers up when your using it. After a while you'll know when to water just by container weigh.

This is also my first grow i should point out. and i got the meter because i was finger checking my pots and i wanted to be sure that i was really feeling as much moisture as i thought i was.

Yes, definitely do a test.. take completely dry soil, check it.. take same soil type.. add enough to half saturate it, then check against the meter.. then supersaturate the soil until no more water can be held.. pour excess off the top. If the needle doesn't peg as 'super fucking wet' then you need to factor that when checking the plant(s) in question.

Mine works pretty good.
I got one gifted to me from a friend not too long ago, and I have been using the probes to poke my root ball and make some holes in it because it's so solid my pot always feels heavy, and when I water, the water runs down the outside but not the center of the pot.
Sorry, you meant 'how accurate are they', LOL.
It's pretty accurate, since it says 1 or 2 when I'm at my normal watering day, and the PH side of it was pretty close when I checked it to a drop test kit.

Thank you all for your intelligent answers.