Gardman Soil Moisture Meter

Maybe not working now! – I bought it from Bunnings about nine months ago and worked fine until now. Watered a plant then inserted the meter said it was dry. Tried other plants that should be moist but again showed dry. Does it have a battery? Show details

Doesn't Work – Brought mine from Bunnings and the needle never moved no matter how wet the soil was, the needle just sat on dry so I returned it and got another one (same brand) and that one didn't work either. I thoroughly watered my plant, stuck the needle in for a couple minutes and it read dry. Back to Bunnings tomorrow. Show details

No problems at all – I’ve had mine for about 5 years, take no special care with it, and it seems to still read accurately and is quite sensitive. I use it for indoor and outdoor plants with a variety of pots. I’ve even left it in the rain a few times and works fine. Show details

Tip broke off on the first day – I bought this for about $12.50 from Bunnings. I used it 3 times in my garden and the 3rd time it came back out with the all-important tip missing. It seemed to give reasonably accurate readings for the few minutes that it worked. Show details

Does literally nothing – Just as the title states; Doesn't matter what level of moisture is in the soil or what the soil type is, the needle doesn't move. Put it in a cup of water, the needle doesn't move. Honestly don't know how people get this to give any readings, let alone accurate readings.  Show details

Amazing! – I love this product - no over watering of pot plants anymore! This product takes the worry out of when to water your plants.... I was always worried about how much water my plants needed... This productncan really tell the difference between dry, moist and wet. Can’t recommend this product enough.  Show details

Don't waste your money,you get what you pay for – Very unreliable,in very wet water logged soil only reads "moist" unless cleaned with fine wire wool always reads "dry" Only glad I did not pay $50 as advertised on EBAY.only $12 in Bunnings.You obviously have to pay more for something that works. Initially it worked ok,but not for long,wast of money  Show details

Seems to work ok – Didn't think that the product would be all that accurate given the price but to my surprise it seems reasonably accurate albeit day one. I feel as long as the probe is kept clean it should continue to give a fair indication of the soil moisture of my indoor pots.  Show details

Unreliable – I bought this gadget from Bunnings to use on my pot plants that are in full sun most of the time. I find it gives a reading of really wet on some pots, such as a smallish hanging terracotta pot containing chives and the like. I can't believe that some hanging pots consistently read wet when they have been in blazing sun all day. I have another… Read more

big terracotta pot containing a gardenia plant that frequently shows to be dry.

I did read on another website (think it was Amazon) that although the instructions say to wipe each time, that the probe needs to be cleaned each with steel wool. I tried this and it seems to give a better result. (One contributor said to he/she uses a nylon pot scrubber so I used this)

Still, this frequent reading of wet soil makes me doubt the accuracy. I mean the needle swings to the extremely wet marker on the meter,not just hovering in the middle, when the soil just looks (and feels) bone dry.

I guess I'll have to fork out a larger amount of money for something more reliable.