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Picked a $65 moisture meter over a $15 one and it saved my whole Monstera
Bought the cheap one on Amazon and it kept reading dry soil as soaking wet, nearly rotted out my plant's roots. Ended up grabbing the Reotemp one and now I actually know when to water, anyone else get burned by those cheap meters?
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ward.anna10d agoTop Commenter
Put a cheap meter in some dry soil and have it tell you everything's fine, you learn real quick that you get what you pay for. I've noticed this same pattern with a lot of household gadgets, not just plant tools. @the_holly, you might have gotten lucky with your Walmart one, but the cheap ones use a different kind of metal in the probe that just isn't accurate. It's like buying a $10 kitchen scale versus a good one, the cheap one drifts and can't be trusted. For something like watering a plant you've put time and love into, spending a little more just makes sense.
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the_holly10d ago
My $12 Walmart meter has been spot-on for two years now, so maybe you just got a dud instead of the concept being flawed.
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Got the same cheap meter myself actually and it was totally useless after a month. @ward.anna is right about the metal quality thing, I stripped the paint off a spot on that probe and it was just some weird soft alloy that started corroding almost immediately. My buddy showed me his mid-range one from a garden center and the difference in build quality was night and day, those things actually last. Tried the cheap route twice because I'm stubborn, ended up spending more in the long run anyway.
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