Soil Moisture Meter Probe - 24 Inch

What a magnificent piece of engineering. Made in the USA of very high quality, and of very sturdy construction. It's a keeper, and it gives you the confidence that it will last for years and years. It is so simple to use, and it really, really lets you know how much moisture is in your soil. It has a simple analog needle on a scale of 0 to 10, in increments of two. When you probe the soil the needle swings instantaneously. You need to calibrate it when you first get it. Water a plant until the soil will hold no more water. After the standing water has soaked in, and the soil is waterlogged, insert the probe and turn the calibration screw until the needle reads 10. (The screw is hidden under a small removable cap. Replace the cap after calibration. You will need a teeny screwdriver, like a jeweler would use to tighten up someone's eyeglasses.) Once it registers 10 like that, it denotes the maximum amout of water your soil will hold. After that, consult the included manual. For example, for my cedar trees, an evergreen, the manual states that evergreens are happy at 4. From there one would know, obviously, when to and how much to water. The manual has quite a good list of plants and vegetables, and their watering requirements, expressed in numerals which would correspond with the needle readings on the probe. It's as easy as pie. One very fine feature is that the meter is on the top of the yellow body. Just put the probe into the ground and look down. I can walk along this row of newly planted cedars or the lawn without having to bend down. Another great thing is that the sensor is at the very tip. It is rounded, and about the size of a half of a split pea, therefore, one gets high accuracy, say at 1/2 inch deep, or 1 inch deep, or 4 inches deep, and so on. The probe is 24 inches long and it measures soil moisture at the depth at which the sensor is. (At the very tip of the probe.) All in all, this is a superb instrument, and as such, I would highly advise one thing; which is how to care for it, and it only takes a few seconds. Since it is made of metal, and since any metal that gets wet will, over time, corrode; then poof, there go your accurate readings. But help is on the way. Just wipe off the dirt and moisture, then dress off the tip with: Kelway® Soil pH and Moisture Meter Conditioning Film, ASIN: (Amazon Store Identification Number) B009VIKL5G. This conditioning film reminds one of ultra-fine sandpaper. (Don't use sandpaper! It will grind the metal off the tip!) Just take the conditioning film, polish off the tip and the first inch up from the tip, put the 1 inch protective cap on the tip, and this instrument should give years and years of service. It runs on a 9 volt battery (included). Happy gardening!

Hasn't worked reliably since I bought it. Have used and gone through two other less expensive brands (for less than $20) that at least worked. I've stopped counting how often I've replaced the battery in this meter, hoping it will miraculously work. After installing a new battery, the needle actually moves & registers moisture, literally, for only two probes. After that it doesn't work at all; the needle doesn't move from zero no matter what the soil moisture content is. Buying this expensive meter was an absolute waste of hard-earned money. It feels and looks like a quality product, but it's not. Not Recommended.

This seems to be an excellent moisture monitoring meter. I have been using it on a dozen or more California native plants I put in this spring, and it helps me avoid overwatering and thereby damaging the young plants. The length and sturdiness of the probe enables me to get readings all the way to the bottom of the root balls and at every depth in between that and the surface of the soil.I have a couple of quibbles about the construction of the device:1. The meter readout is not solidly mounted in the opening at the top of the device. It dropped down slightly inside the metal box at my slightest touch. I suppose it could be super-glued to keep it in place, but probably not without voiding the warranty.2. I found the calibration screw very difficult to turn. It requires a very small screwdriver, and getting the driver to engage the screw slot so that I could turn it proved unnecessarily tricky and frustrating..

This is the tool I should have bought years ago. Moisture management is probably one of the toughest parts of any gardener's, nurseryman's, or plantsman's work, and yet I was relying on the old "index finger in the top layer and some guesswork" approach. This tool is rugged, bone simple, and it WORKS.In a few seconds, I can probe around the root zone of my container trees or herbaceous plants -- and often discover that not only do they differ substantially between each other in saturation, but that there are specific regions within each one's container, sometimes in the middle or even bottom zones, that are too dry due to unknown factors -- this is something I could never have known using the old way. After just a few weeks of using this tool daily to help me manage watering, my trees are much healthier, because I actually *know* when each one needs water, and how much it needs, and *where.*I avoided buying this for years because I thought it seemed "expensive," but it could have saved me many times its purchase price in plant quality -- and anxiety! -- if I'd just ponied up for it a long while ago. As he other reviewers have said, built like a tank, easy to use, and worth every penny.

Poorly sized battery cage. It’s too large and the AA does not properly fit. The positive side terminal has been bent downward to secure the battery. The problem is, that contact is at the absolute minimum. Thus, operation of the tool has jiggled the connection loose. I have not been able to get more than 4 measurements without it failing.When it works, it seems to work well. I will have to modify the battery cage to make the tool reliable.