How to Use and Read a House Plant Soil Moisture Meter

If you have indoor house plants, particularly tropical house plants, you know how difficult it can be to know if you are properly watering your house plants. Sometimes, we don't discover that we have watered our house plants too much or too little until they start to die. There's a sure way to know if your house plants are getting the right amount of water and that can be done by using a plant moisture meter (also called a plant moisture gauge). The house plant moisture meter is composed of brass rod or probe and a meter that clearly indicates the soil moisture, and requires no battery. The objective is to measure the soil moisture to see if the plant needs watering. Soil moisture meters are available at home and garden centers and cost from $4 to $20.

Instructions

1. When not in the soil, the plant meter will read "dry." Press the moisture probe into the potted house plant near the base of the plant so the probe's point ends within the bottom two-thirds of the pot.

2. 

   The meter will indicate whether the soil is dry, moist, or wet. You need to be aware of what the preferred soil moisture level is of your plant to know when and how much to water. Some plants should be allowed to have dry soil before watering, like the Corn Plant. Others prefer a constantly moist soil. Few plants can tolerate being in the wet zone of the soil moisture meter. Read the plant tag to see what the preferred soil moisture level should be. If the plant does not have a tag, a good rule of thumb to follow is to water the plant when it reads Dry two thirds of the way up from the bottom the pot. The frequency that you water is dependent on humidity and amount of sun, so check the plant weekly with the moisture meter to determine how much and how frequently the plant needs water.

3. Rinse the probe after each us.