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Appreciation post: my $8 moisture meter beat my finger test on my balcony tomatoes
I killed two rounds of cherry tomatoes on my south facing balcony in Astoria before I figured this out. I was watering whenever the top inch of soil felt dry to my finger, which in July meant basically every morning. Then I grabbed a cheap moisture meter off Amazon for $8 and stuck it 3 inches down next to the stems. The reading was still in the wet zone almost every time I thought about watering, so I cut back to about twice a week and the plants finally stopped dropping blossoms. The finger test only reads the top layer, and in a 10 inch pot that dries out way faster than the root zone does. Six weeks later I've got 14 tomatoes ripening, which is more than my first two tries combined. Anyone else find their finger was way off, or is it just me and my dry hands?
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harper_singh1827d ago
Picked up that same $8 meter after frying my herbs on a west balcony and it saved me too. Sticking it deep near the roots is the whole trick, since the top inch lies to you every time.
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