Description This professional moisture meter will show you how dry or wet the soil is at the push of a button. The digital moisture meter can be an ideal tool to help when dialing in your Blumat or other garden irrigation system. Keeping your soil at the ideal moisture level keeps microbes and other microorganism populations happy.
*DO NOT GET ELECTRIC/DIGITAL PART OF METER WET. USE PROTECTIVE CAP, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE USING THESE OUTSIDE, HAND-WATERING, OR FREQUENTLY APPLY FOLIAR SPRAYS.
HOW IT WORKS The ceramic extension is soaked in and filled with water, just like a Blumat sensor. When this is inserted into the growing medium, the medium exerts a pressure on the water inside the cone. When the medium is more dry, it pulls harder on the water inside the cone. When the medium is more moist, the force pulling inside the cone is less. These forces of pressure correlate to different readings on the meter. A reading of 0 indicates standard water, while a high reading of 750 or so indicates sawdust completely void of moisture. The digital moisture meter is a tensiometer, but indicates moisture levels using pressure as a correlative.
Wait until after watering media to let the moisture evenly disperse and stabilize before trusting readings from the meter.
Aim for 100mbar on average in living soil. Some gardeners report best results at 40mbar–I personally get overwatering symptoms there. Let mbar readings on your meter be a guide to plant health, not a tyranny that rules your mental peace.
The meter cannot be used in extremely airy or chunky media such as chunky perlite, lava rock, etc. When the ceramic is in contact with air, the pressure readings will be extremely high. However, your plant roots may have access to moisture in these media even when the meter is displaying high readings.
Avoid getting the digital display wet. The protective cap is highly encouraged in all circumstances, and is completely necessary for outdoor growers as well as those who supplement with any over-the-top watering.
Do not drop or otherwise rattle the display.
Keep the digital display in dry storage when it’s not in use.