You’re not sure whether it’s time to water your vegetables, your flowerbeds, your houseplants, etc.? I know the perfect moisture meter, one which gives totally accurate results every time… and you already have it on hand.
This extraordinary tool is… your index finger (or if you do not have an index finger, any other functional finger).
Here’s the technique:
Insert your finger into the soil up to the second joint. If the soil is dry to the touch, water. If the soil is moist to the touch, don’t water.
Repeat as needed every 2 or 3 days (for garden plants and houseplants) or daily (flower boxes exposed to full sun).
Obviously, there are plenty of commercial moisture meters that are supposed to accurately read soil moisture levels, but they often give false results, especially in certain types of soil. Moreover, they tend become contaminated with mineral salts after only a few months of use and then stop working properly. Your finger, on the other hand, will continue to give accurate results for 40, 60, or even 80 years.
Sometimes gardening can be so simple!
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Think of a moisture meter as cheap insurance. Spend $70 and you’ll never have to wonder whether that lumber you bought is too wet or too dry. You can tell if the “kiln-dried” pine you bought from the home center was dried to 9- percent moisture content (about what you need for indoor projects) or 19-percent (what most constructiongrade pine is kiln dried to). Knowing the moisture content (MC) of your wood helps you determine when the wood is stable enough to use.
This information is not too appropriate to a blog about gardening, but very practical when it comes to construction projects. Thanks for sharing!