What do you think of this Moisture Plant Meter

[epifit]

I'm a beginner in orchids. I want a tool to simplify the watering.

What do you think of this kind of gadgets?

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Is it reliable?

Do you have other ways to see if the plant needs watering?

[estación seca]

It leads to an ad for credit cards.

[Dimples]

Those types of meters measure the electrical conductivity of the moisture in the soil, outdoor in the ground or in traditional potting mix. As the soil dries the EC drops and it will read as ‘dry’. BUT if you put the meter in a cup of distilled water it will also read as ‘dry’ because it’s actually the salt/mineral content in water that conducts electricity and pure H2O doesn’t conduct electricity. They don’t actually measure the level of wet/dry, so I don’t find them particularly useful.

They also aren’t designed for very chunky, large particle medium.

[ArronOB]

Originally Posted by epifit

Do you have other ways to see if the plant needs watering?

I lift the pot up. If it’s light it needs watering. If it’s heavy it does not.

In winter I might allow it to remain ‘light’ for a few days, according to orchid type.

[epifit]

Does the substrate has to dry out completely before watering?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by epifit

Does the substrate has to dry out completely before watering?

How dry it needs to get between waterings depends on the type of orchid. Phalaenopsis like to get almost dry but not completely dry (partially depends on the medium), Cattleyas want to get nearly dry, Oncidiums need to stay damp and never go completely dry. So more detail is needed. To refine the pot-weight approach, you could water the plant well (water running through the pot), weigh it after it has stopped dripping using a postal scale or kitchen scale, weigh it again the next day, etc. When the rate of rate loss is low (not much water left to evaporate) it's time to water again.

[camille1585]

You can also use the good old wooden skewer measure. Leave one in the pot, not too close to the edge, and pull it out occasionally. Water loving plants when it's still damp, and for others that need to dry out more it just feel just damp, or cool when you touch it to your cheek.

For Phals it's really easy if you have transparent pots. As long as the roots are green, the pot is wet enough. Once the roots start drying they loose their transparency and turn silver. Then is the time to water.