tool to measure soil moisture?

Cergio 3/6/2022, 4:21 pm

Hello - we have a Giving Garden at our church with a number of volunteers. We would like to be more objective with our watering protocols. Is anyone aware of a tool that can measure moisture levels in the soil? Thanks for any help...

Hawgwild 3/6/2022, 9:50 pm

Cergio wrote:Hello - we have a Giving Garden at our church with a number of volunteers. We would like to be more objective with our watering protocols. Is anyone aware of a tool that can measure moisture levels in the soil? Thanks for any help...

You can get a soil test kit that measures several things including moisture and PH levels of your soil. PH is important also as most vegetables like a more neutral ph level although some vegetables do prefer a more acidic soil while others prefer a more alkaline soil. I believe most do well with a neutral ph level.

Think I saw one in Home Depot the other day or just search Amazon for "Soil Test Meter".....pretty cheap under 15 bucks.

Scottie

Frost? 3/7/2022, 9:37 am

Cergio wrote:Hello - we have a Giving Garden at our church with a number of volunteers. We would like to be more objective with our watering protocols. Is anyone aware of a tool that can measure moisture levels in the soil? Thanks for any help...

I bought mine off of Amazon - it tests moisture, pH, and "light". Light and moisture appear to be fairly accurate, I cannot attest to the pH pinpoint accuracy, but it seems to be within range of true findings by soil test. I'm not "allowed" to post links so the best I can do is give you a screenshot:

Cergio 3/7/2022, 11:19 am

Thanks for the info and screenshot! May I assume you have used the tool (moisture mostly for us) specifically with Mel's Mix or similar in a SFG? Do you alter your watering patterns accordingly? Really appreciate the help.

markqz 3/7/2022, 11:48 am

Cergio wrote:Thanks for the info and screenshot! May I assume you have used the tool (moisture mostly for us) specifically with Mel's Mix or similar in a SFG? Do you alter your watering patterns accordingly? Really appreciate the help.

I have that meter or one made by the same factory in China.

The light meter maxes out at 2000 lux, so basically all it can do is tell you that there is some light. Even a cloud day can be something like 15000 lux. A bright day is 30,000. You can use your smart phone for a more informative light meter.

I'm not sure if the pH meter works at all. The meter itself skews towards acidity -- not much range above pH 7. I haven't found any soil where it measures anything other than about neutral, so not ... not sure. A pH meter is going to be more useful with random soil than with MM. MM is a designed mix, so it's hard to move the needle much. Just recently I bought some plastic pH strips, and they also confirmed near neutral acidity.

The moisture meter is the part I use most. I feel that it does a reasonable job. If it says the soil is moist, when I pull the meter out and wipe it off, I can usually feel moisture, confirming the meter. Of course I could have done the same test with a long steel nail. So it is a bit subjective, not having a way to calibrate it. And yes, I use it with MM.

Frost? 3/7/2022, 1:26 pm

Cergio wrote:Thanks for the info and screenshot! May I assume you have used the tool (moisture mostly for us) specifically with Mel's Mix or similar in a SFG? Do you alter your watering patterns accordingly? Really appreciate the help.

Yes, I do use the tool; predominately for moisture - spot check on pH. The light meter kind of escapes me, because I can see how much light the bed is getting. Florida, relatively clear day, 1pm n the afternoon, one of my beds (not in direct sunlight) is reading 800 lumens, and it is apparent that the bed is NOT in darkness; when I moved it to a pot in the center of the yard it pegged to the 2000 lumen. As far as the pH goes, that bed registered 7.8 or so, taking it out and sticking it in a bag of peat moss it moves down to about 7.5, a container of wood ash (which may not read well because it is powdery dry) and it actually appeared to nudge 8.0 - which makes no sense, when I put it in one of my tomato pots it went back to maybe a 7.2 or so. It is not intended to be put in liquid, but a friend stuck his in a couple different solutions to see if the pH gauge really did "move" - it pegged to the acidic side. All that being said, I would not rely on it for pH, but I certainly believe it does a fair job of measuring moisture. I also know I don't have any "acidic" beds/pots because we live in limerock.

I do not use MM presently but I do have SFG beds, as well as wicking beds, as well as containers.

Cergio 3/7/2022, 1:35 pm

Really helpful, thanks! We will log our subjective moisture assessments and the tool readings over a period of time and try to come up with a good watering protocol for our volunteers to follow.

Frost? 3/7/2022, 1:39 pm

Cergio wrote:Really helpful, thanks! We will log our subjective moisture assessments and the tool readings over a period of time and try to come up with a good watering protocol for our volunteers to follow.

Glad to help. It should be effective for you for moisture. I don't know what MN soil is typically on the pH scale, but I would be interested to hear from you if you gain any insight in that regard. I may intentionally mix up a coffee can full of acidic dirt (if I can figure out how to do that - wood ash & sulfur?) and see if I can get it to read below 7.

Cergio 3/7/2022, 1:57 pm

Since we use a slight tweak on Mel's Mix (thirds by volume compost, peat, vermiculite) our pH is pretty consistent. We add ash as suggested after growing certain veggies. Moisture is our big issue. We have found SFG to be super touchy with regards to water levels (especially too much water). We are instructed to dig to the bottom of our beds, grab a fistful, and squeeze. Want top 4" dry and bottom moist without being able to squeeze out water. Varies bed to bed (which it should not since sunshine is consistent, so must be uneven irrigation system) plus we want a group of volunteer leaders to all be able to assess and alter watering levels. An objective "water X if the moisture reads Y" would/will be very helpful. Hopefully we can get there. Thanks again!

PS - just back from a month in your state, and still have 8" snow on ground here. Putting up our SFG greenhouse plastic later this week. Hope to plant in two weeks (radishes, spinach, peas) while bottoms of beds are still frozen.

Frost? 3/7/2022, 3:10 pm

Hope you enjoyed your vacation; you can keep the "frozen" tundra though. I need to wait for Global Warming before I get to MN.
86 degrees here right now; what happened to Spring?

**sanderson** 3/7/2022, 3:32 pm

Well, this thread has taken a turn that has to be addressed. I know I'm alive because my heart rate went up! Razz

The original question was in regards to measuring moisture in the beds. Not about light, pH, additives to Mel's Mix, or using any thing besides Mel's Mix for the beds.

I'm not sure if the pH meter works at all. The meter itself skews towards acidity -- not much range above pH 7. I haven't found any soil where it measures anything other than about neutral, so not ... not sure. A pH meter is going to be more useful with random soil than with MM. MM is a designed mix, so it's hard to move the needle much. Just recently I bought some plastic pH strips, and they also confirmed near neutral acidity.

A pH meter is not needed for SFG Mel's Mix. Don't go down that rabbit hole. Yes, Mel's Mix (MM) is designed for a pH around 7. Most veggies will grow just fine around a pH of 7. Is it perfect for each, no. But, that is not the objective of MM. The objective was for everyone to be able to grow a little fresh produce without fretting about the details. Make Mel's Mix properly, amend each season/planting with more compost and relax. If you are a commercial farmer, you're growing in the dirt and additives may or must be added for the crop being grown. No limestone, sulfur, ash or anything else is allowed with SFG. Period.

I would not rely on it for pH, but I certainly believe it does a fair job of measuring moisture.

I personally use the finger method for moisture. If it's still moist at 2" down, it's good. Using the moisture meter with the finger method, one should get comfortable with the results.

Really helpful, thanks! We will log our subjective moisture assessments and the tool readings over a period of time and try to come up with a good watering protocol for our volunteers to follow.

Excellent

I don't know what MN soil is typically on the pH scale, but I would be interested to hear from you if you gain any insight in that regard. I may intentionally mix up a coffee can full of acidic dirt (if I can figure out how to do that - wood ash & sulfur?) and see if I can get it to read below 7.

As the book explains, the pH of Mel's Mix is around 7, which is good enough for most crops. Exception would be like blue berries which need an acidic pH and are NOT grown in the same beds as veggies/strawberries. Deviations from the original formula for Mel's Mix, or the 2022 emergency formula for when coarse/super coarse vermiculite cannot be found, means one is not doing SFG. One is instead doing planting by squares. Not the same.

we want a group of volunteer leaders to all be able to assess and alter watering levels. An objective "water X if the moisture reads Y" would/will be very helpful. Hopefully we can get there. Thanks again!

If it's still moist at 2" down, it's good. "Using the moisture meter with the finger method in Mel's Mix, one should get comfortable with the results."

Frost? 3/7/2022, 4:42 pm

\"sanderson wrote: I know I'm alive because my heart rate went up! The original question was in regards to measuring moisture in the beds. Not about light, pH, additives to Mel's Mix, or using any thing besides Mel's Mix for the beds."]
Being mindful of your physical welfare; having profiled you as a relaxed and sedentary gardener, it was our desire to ensure you got in a fair cardio regime for the day. Mission accomplished.

A pH meter is not needed for SFG Mel's Mix. Mel's Mix (MM) is designed for a pH around 7. Mel's Mix properly, amend each season/planting with more compost and relax.

Thank you for that. Still waiting on my book.

**sanderson** 3/7/2022, 6:08 pm

Definitely mission accomplished.

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