Elekin Soil Moisture Meter Instant Detection, Soil Test Kits Hygrometer Soil Water Monitor for Garden, Flowers Plants Indoor(White)

Got these to replace the previous soil moisture meters I was using, as they were getting too difficult to read. This is a nifty device, and fairly easy to use. You simply open the battery compartment and pull out the plastic sheet, press the button for 5 seconds (the indicator flashes red 3 times), and then insert the sensor into the soil. There is a reminder mode where the light flashes red every 30 seconds if the moisture is low, but you can press the button at any time to get an immediate reading.Pros:1. Very reasonably priced, compared to similar soil moisture meters2. The LED is very bright, no problems reading the status at all3. Slim profile and discreet4. Idiot-proof, you can't mess this up!Cons:1. The sensor is quite small, only around 5 inches. This means that you will not get an accurate reading in very large pots. This is useful only for small & medium sized pots. 2. I got a very accurate reading in regular potting soil, however in gravel and peat the reading was way off. I would use this only in plants with potting soil.3. The battery compartment isn't waterproof. I got around this by putting some clear tape around it, but will have to remove that when the battery needs replacing.Overall, at this price it's a very good buy for small & medium sized pots that have potting soil. I would look elsewhere for larger pots and those that use peat or gravel.Lastly, I hate to be captain obvious, but this unit is calibrated to require watering when the moisture in the soil is less than 15%. This will work for most plants, but if you need plants with special watering needs (succulents, orchids, etc.) this may not be the best buy.

I wouldn't ever buy again, or recommend anyone else buying this. For one thing, the micro led is too small and dim to see any colored light. And from what I read in instructions, when the soil moisture is 'good', between 16% - 60% the green light only blinks every 30 min. Who in the **** is going to be staring at this sensor to see if its showing green or not, especially when the light doesn't stay lit? If the soil moisture is low, < 16%, there's a red blink every 30 secs. But mostly its a matter of hard to see the micro led and its very dim color blinking. Oh well, got another kind of meter and it works good...

I do not have a green thumb, but I do have a beloved plant that was struggling and trying to die. This meter showed green ALL the time - only flashed blue when I first got it. So I went back to look for an alternative, and found one that -- literally-- saved the plant. It had a totally different approach, but it works perfectly to signal when the plant needs water. This Elekin meter was the first I ever tried, I liked the concept, and I found one that worked for me. I do believe that other reviews suggest that the Elekin worked for them. I might just have gotten a lemon, don't know.

I rarely write product reviews but I was genuinely surprised by these gadgets!Granted, I only just received them so the experience could change, but so far the soil moisture meter’s red light accurately shows for the plants that I would also agree need water, and it shows green or blue for the plants i tried it in that aren’t quite ready for water.I honestly expected them to be cheap and janky, but they are doing a better job than some more expensive monitors I have used....

This product is just terrible to use. The instructions make no sense. There is no method by which to validate when the light will turn on. All I can is th light to blink 3 times which is supposed to indicate shutting down, so there is no startup process and no light comes on after. I bought 10 of these useless things, as they looked good. Don't waste your money.

Neat compact device but accuracy is not as good. It can only send 50% moist or above or so for green, blue is pretty much soaking water. Below 50% or so moisture it will indicate as dry. I think as a plant owner you dont care for the soaking wet blue because it's too obvious. Something in between red and green would be nice. LED really hard to see with high lighting.

Maybe it’s me not doing it right, but the battery was dead in three months or less.I’m back to using the prob gauge and it’s working as good as always after years of use.

Only shows level when you push the button.It's inconsistent about the reading. You can get a different color light within seconds of a previous reading.