Soil probe

anyone care to recommend a probe to check the soil for things like how dry/wet it is? perhaps also check for acidity and temperature? mainly for indoor plants but if useable outdoors, all the better. thanks.

 

I bought one of Amazon a few years ago. Sorry I can't remember the make and model but it was cheap (less than a tenner). I can't say how good it is (or not) though, because I have nothing to compare it to.

Sorry this probably doesn't help. I just didn't want it to look like your thread was being ignored, its more likely people, like me, don't feel sure enough on this specific subject to make a recommendation.

 

Since my earlier post on this thread, I've found mine. Its the same as your John.

I concur, the light sensor doesn't appear to do anything. When I last used it a couple of years ago I did get slightly differing pH readings on my land, ranging from ph5.5 to nearly 7. The soil has to be soggy wet, and the probe needs a minute or two to get a reading. I'd expect this, its all about electrochemical reactions. A chemical reaction is set up between the probes and the soil, and that causes an electrical charge to build up on the probes. The polarity and voltage of that charge tells us the pH, but you need a minute or two for the reaction to get going.

 

thanks chaps. i did find similar draper devices on the net.

here's a bloke - must be straight out of 70s open university! - demonstrating a very similar device to the draper:



it does look like i'll need separate kits for measuring different things. i'll start with one thing and slowly get the others as i get better at gardening!

thanks.

 

Clueless - I thought you simply used your finger to test the wetness and a quick suck to check the pH....

(Oh dear, that does sound naughty! Sorry! )

 

My gut feeling is as far as things like this go, you'll bother with them less and less as you learn more.

One of the most important lessons I've learned is that plants can't read. They often don't know that they are not supposed to grow in certain conditions, or vice versa, you give them what the text books say they need and for no reason at all, they turn their nose up at you and fail to cooperate.

 

Water probe is helpful. I don;t use mine often, but for things that want to be kept dry (and things in winter that I only want to water when they are drying out, so as not to encourage wet-feet and rot, it is useful).

pH probe is a waste of time. Need to ahve a decent one for it to be any good, and it needs calibrating. Best bet for pH is one of those little test-tube test kits IMHO.

Temperature needs a soil thermometer. Temperature (at a reasonable depth) doesn't change very fast, so it doesn't need to be checked very often (i.e. a "recording one" is probably not worth the money).

 

Now, how bizarre is this ...

I have just come in from the outdoor living room where I keep my soil checker probe to put it ready to take to the river property tomorrow. My father bought it for me years ago (he died in 2006) and I had it many, many years before that.

Mine is a Diplex electronic soil moisture indicator and I had it years before I left Bucks which was in 2001.

I use it all the time here due to the heat and my many plants in the outdoor living room which doesn't get a lot of sun but is very dry.

I wouldn't be without it.

 

I bought several from ALDI along with PH testers
The moisture ones reckon it is very dry yet the ground is soused

I have therefore lost confidence in the PH tester ones :-)
The thermometer seems correct though, only that is glass thermomenter encased in an aliminium skin even works under your arm or in the gob

Jack McH