VIVOSUN Soil Tester, 3-in-1 Plant Moisture Meter Light and PH Tester for Home, Garden, Lawn, Farm, Indoor and Outdoor Use, Promote Plants Healthy Growth

I learned that I needed one of these and started to do some shopping here on Amazon. Talk about OVERLOAD! If one isn't really knowledgeable because it's your first time needing one, it is OVERWHELMING trying to pick ONE that meets your needs, doesn't cost an arm and a leg and just isn't complicated. This is EXACTLY what you need if you are using soil. Works great, easy to read, accurate, easy to clean, seems durable enough, no problems there, not cheaply made. Everything I need, not complicated or expensive! If you're looking for that, this is a great find! I totally recommend it! If you need something for hydroponics or anything more complicated, this would not fit your needs!

I could have sworn I reviewed this! It works! I tested the moisture in some of my plants and got different readings. I moved a plant around and had different lighting readings. I found out one of my plants needed a more acidic soil. I recommend it.

I am very sorry to report that this meter isn't very useful for my needs (growing succulents outdoors in containers in the Bay Area). The problem is that the sensors read the same unless conditions are truly extreme. For example, the light meter does show a high reading for bright sunlight directly on the sensor. But it can't tell the difference between bright shade and deeper shade. The moisture meter - which was my reason for buying the item - registers in the red, "Very Dry" region unless the meter is placed in soaking wet soil. Then it does go all the way to "very wet". So, the moisture meter is probably useful for soil that is usually quite moist, to warn you if it dries out. But it's not useful for succulent growers. (Maybe if you haven't figured out yet why all your succulents die...) Finally, the pH meter seems to be entirely useless. It reads highly alkaline (above pH 7) unless placed in soil soaked in vinegar. But this is *not* a problem with this specific plant sensor. It is a problem with affordable plant sensors in general. I did a lot of research on the topic after I got a second Vivosun meter that performed as described above. Basically, you have to spend $50-$100 to get a sensor that will probably work. The really good ones start at around $320. Soil sensors, it turns out, are a huge business. They are a crucial component of up-to-date agriculture. They allow automation - and save water, reduce chemical use, etc. Goals everyone can cheer for. Those sensors, placed permanently in the ground at many locations on a farm, are part of multi thousand $$$ systems. The $300-$1500 handheld sensor is for the person who goes around checking on actual conditions. Less expensive systems exist for gardening, but again, they're designed to be incorporated into irrigation systems and so on. There are also at least 4 fundamentally different technologies used in soil sensors. (I'm ignoring the light meter here. Also, some technologies can measure both pH and moisture content like this meter - I think they're both measuring electrical potential between the two sensor prongs. But the more accurate and expensive tech only measures moisture. I guess they have a different sensor for pH, or more likely, it's not incorporated into automated irrigation systems.) The more accurate tech is cumbersome and has been developed largely for permanent installation in agricultural settings. There are a couple of in-between levels that are also marketed for agriculture; these are the types that appear in garden systems. Finally, the technology used in inexpensive moisture meters is no longer used in serious equipment. I don't really understand why a $10 moisture meter can't work a bit better, though. Some tinkering with the probe materials and adjustment of the sensor readout range might well make this type of meter work considerably better. Leaving out the other sensors would reduce costs and confusion. There is a big consumer market for moisture meters that get the right basic answer. Everyone with a houseplant could use something like that. Never mind the enthusiasts who fuss over tricky plants from succulents and cacti to marsh living carnivorous plants! So, for now, succulent growers should just avoid these devices. (There's no reason to imagine another brand is better.) It would be interesting to know if people whose plants need moist soil find this type of meter more useful. And Vivosun (one of the top companies in the indoor horticulture area) should go back to the lab. Plants in containers don't allow for the expensive, high-tech systems I referred to above. Each container needs a sensor of its own. So, users need many separate inexpensive small sensors. Given the money in some forms of indoor horticulture, it seems worthwhile to develop a moisture sensor that's still inexpensive, but two or three times as accurate as this one.

Bought this for the moisture reading. Works very well, unlike another one I purchased. Other functions are helpful too.

Does not read light. Does not read moisture. The needle just sits there, stuck. Absolute trash and a total waste of money.

Good potential with this. The tip came off one end and was lost in the potting soil upon 3rd use.

This thing is pretty cool and I think some plants may have been saved from the graveyard if I had this sooner. There is a little button to switch modes and it’s an instant read. The only thing is that the light sensor can only interpret how much natural light there is. I have a plant grow light with the UV spectrum but it didn’t register at all on this, I took it outside to make sure it worked and it does, the needle immediately shot up to high light. So if you were hoping like I was that you could test the usefulness of your artificial lights, you cannot. Otherwise great value and saves some time when checking on which plants need water and no more guessing if the soil is right for the plant. I think this is a must have for anyone who has plants and isn’t a savant who can just look at a plant and know what it needs. February 2024 update: my plants are thriving since using this to find out all the soil needed more acid. I switched what kind of plant food I was using and now just about every plant has exploded with growth, almost every one has multiple new leaves and is a more vibrant color. The only ones that don’t are the “slow growers” but they will eventually now that they’re getting the right nutrients.

My hydrangeas and Azaleas have been having a struggle and the color was going out from the Azaleas so after research I thought maybe it might be the PH level. I bought this because it is a 3 in 1. I stuck it in the ground by my azaleas and it read the moisture is good. Light is good. PH not so good for an azalea. Now I have added the proper fertilizer and will test again in another week. The only problem I have with this tester is the numbers are so small I have to wear glasses to see.