Bond Manufacturing 9628 Moisture Meter

When I purchased this meter I was concerned that it might not work or be too flimsy for garden use. The price seemed too reasonable. No worries any more. It works and it is much sturdier than I had thought. The probe is long enough and stout enough to get to the proper root depth to measure 'real soil moisture' levels. The scale, while not some scientific measure, is plenty informative for assessing whether to water or not. I now use it weekly on my indoor plants. Surprisingly, the story is not 'one size fits all'. Some pots (mainly clay) dry out much faster than others (usually plastic). Some plants seem to suck up water quicker than others.The bottom line is I no longer have to guess or stick my finger deep into the soil to get the watering right. I wish I had this thing years ago.

I've read so many bad reviews about these cheap moisture meters that I bought two for my garden so I would have some warning if one was off. While not exact, both seem to read about the same, and both seem to be about right when it comes to the moisture level. I find this particularly handy because while the first inch or so of my soil seems dry, it can be quite wet just below that. I kept over watering my plants. Now not only am I better able to judge when to water, I'm learning how the slope and soil compostion of my garden affects the drainage, which allows me to spot water the higher and drier areas without saturating the lower and wetter areas. I've gone from daily watering to watering 2-3 times a week, and the plants are happier for it.Easily worth the price, and if your like me and don't quite trust them, just buy two.

I have had a number of moisture meters in the past, and this is by far the best one for the price. It does seem to read fairly accurately once one correlates the reading with a 'finger test' as a standard. It is by far easier to use than the two piece rod meters. Occasionally a sensor rod will hit a large root and not penetrate the soil. Don't force the meter, but just reinsert the sensor rod an inch away. Remember its just plastic. A double rod meter will have a higher likely hood of hitting a root, stone, or bark debris. The other advantage is that one could actually tell the moisture reading at different levels since this meter basically gives a spot reading at the tip of the rod. For those of you thinking you can put the tip into a glass of water to read a "10" moisture reading; that is not correct. The meter is not measuring 'water', but the resistence over soil with different water saturations. I would certainly purchase this meter again.

I bought this for my plants, and it worked well. Helped me know when it was safe to water and helped me prevent overwatering. Dial easy to read and use.

It works as expected for making watering decision so much easier. Just insert it into the soil and read the meter. The color dial makes it easy to read for dry, moist or wet. No power required.

I got this to monitor my lemon tree's soil moisture- it's important for most plants to maintain some kind of steady moisture, or to let them dry out in between waterings. This meter allows you to test that deeper levels of soil are at the correct water content before watering them too soon or too late.The probe is long enough to go through almost all the soil in my gallon-sized planter pots, and because the tip of the probe is what it measuring the moisture, you have an idea of what the water content is at various soil depths.Wouldn't change a thing about this.

Great Idea. Easy to read and understand. I bought two. One didn't work very well from the start. Could put it in just watered soil, wet deep down, and it didn't read any change. The other one worked for a while but now doesn't register any change either. Even though I had to return the first Luster Leaf 1830 Rapitest Moisture and Light Combo Meter I bought, the replacement is still working just fine and for the money, I'd recommend it over this Bond Moisture Meter.

In September I moved from the Midwest to the Arizona desert. My outdoor plants as well as my indoor plants were not doing well and I attributed it to the fact that I was either overwatering or under watering in the new climate. This tool made it so simple for me to check and be sure all of my plants were getting the right amount of water. Highly recommend.