What about moisture meters...

[greenpassion]

I am new to caring for orchids, and one of things I feel less confident about is the watering issue. I have been told to use a stick or something to stick down into the mix to see if I need to water, but I don't really trust this method. So, I am wondering about moisture meters. There is one out there called the Momet that looks ok to me, but I found another one from a company called IGS, and it looks good too. Does anyone have any experience using these? Do they work??

[WhiteRabbit]

hmm - well the one I got once to try didn't seem to do anything at all - don't know if I got a dud or what
I've had good success using skewers however

[Bud]

Water when needed. You can look at the media in the pot if its dry then water it. You have to learn the skewer method down pat because it works. New gadgets are just new ways to get you to part with your money but its really a hit or miss.
This winter make it a point to water weekly. I went on a holiday for 2 weeks and I came back and my orchids were still alive !
In winter the air is dry indoors and it sucks up moisture from plants esp when using winter heaters, invest on a humidifier.

[RJSquirrel]

I got one them moisture meters. They are hard to use in rocks, bark and orchid stuff bec its hard to poke the probes into the mix far enough to get to where you need to be reading. The moisture meter cannot read orchid media well becs unless its soaking wet its always telling you its dry. The meters IMO were meant more for soil based media rather than all the other stuff orchid people use. If you use moss then you know if its wet or dry looking at it. I find the moisture meter more useful for my houseplants in reality. For the 10-20 dollars you will spend you can use it for something else

[camille1585]

The problem with moisture meters is that they are meant for soil and not bark/orchid media. With all the air pockets in it the meter can't get an accurate reading. So even if your orchid is still wet enough, it will tell you that it's dry.

Either stick with the skewer, or get used to using pot weight to judge moisture. If you have Phals in clear pots got by their root color to guide you. If the roots you see through the side of the pot appear green with beads of moisture on the plastic then it's fine. Once those roots turn silvery white it's time to water again. With phals this is a fool proof method.

[Wrebbitrocks]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

For the 10-20 dollars you will spend you can use it for something else

like maybe clear pots, a pack of skewers, AND an orchid...

[greenpassion]

I have all my orchids in ceramic pots. I can see lots of healthy new roots, some showing thru the openings in the pot sides, and some are crawling across the top of the bark mix. My worry with skewers is what if I poke or stab a root? I went and got some bamboo kabob skewers, and 'checked' for moisture this morning. I'm not 100% sure I didn't hurt a root, and not sure how well I gaged moisture. I can see that there is moisture in some pieces of bark thru the pot openings, and some chunks on the surface of a few feel slightly damp. I'll keep at it.....

[camille1585]

Just make sure that you put the swekers back into the same hole each time you pull them out to check. The first time you put one in you just need to wringle it around to get it to slid between roots.

[greenpassion]

Orchid Web has moisture meters that have gages that can be set to differentiate between soil and bark, and moss.

[Wrebbitrocks]

yes, try fo the same hole. perhaps near the nametag as it has already made an entry way. besides im sure a super healthy plant would recovery quite nicely from losing a small piece of root. spinning the skewer while pushing down like a drill helps because it goes straight down and you can feel any resistance that *may* be a root