I spent $80 on a fancy moisture meter and it either saved my peace lilies or made me paranoid

So I dropped $80 on one of those digital moisture meters with a probe after my spider plant started looking sad. I was checking every plant twice a week and it said everything was fine, but my peace lily still drooped. Turns out the meter was reading dry soil as moist because it was compacted, so I overwatered for a month. Now I just stick my finger in the dirt like a normal person, but what do you all think, are these meters worth it or just a gimmick?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan19312d ago

Honestly I think those meters are just a gimmick for most houseplants. I bought one a few years back and it was more trouble than it was worth - kept giving me weird readings depending on how deep I shoved it in. What brand was yours? I'm curious if the cheaper ones are even worse or if all of them have this problem with compacted soil. Seems like every plant parent I know ends up going back to the finger test eventually lol.

dakota_taylor3912d ago

Dude that exact thing happened to my mom with her ferns. She bought one of those fancy meters and was convinced she was a plant genius until her fern started dropping leaves everywhere. Now she just pokes the dirt with a chopstick and calls it good lol.

kai_brown236d ago

The chopstick trick is pretty smart actually. Those finger dips don't always reach deep enough to tell if the bottom is still soggy. Have you tried the bamboo skewer method too?