Forum home› Tools and techniques
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Moisture PH level tester

paulbaxendale4813wtYe2lypaulbaxendale4813wtYe2ly Posts: 65
in Tools and techniques
Hi I'm  new to gardening and have just done a garden make over and have been planting the boarders up with shrubs and plants . With the hot weather not sure how much to water them so started watering every evening and some plants started to wilt . So I bought  a moisture tester , two
 prongs you stick in soil.
Do you think these are accurate , said the soil was wet so I have stopped watering for last few days and soil still showing moist.

Posts

  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    You have been digging your soil so surely you must know how moisture retentive it is. You really don't need any gadgets and they are more useful, if at all, with the controlled environment of an indoor pot. Maybe take a few photos for the forum to pore over of the wilted plants as it may give us a clue of what might be wrong, outdoors it usually is a matter of sun exposure that can cause deterioration.
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    We've had temperatures up to 25 recently, and some plants in my garden wilt when it's as hot as that.  Things like primroses and polyanthus, even if they have enough water, wilt by the evening.  The cool of the night perks them up.

    As long as the water soaks into your soil and doesn't turn it into a bog, I don't think you're at all likely to be over-watering anything.  When it's warm and dry it's hard to over-water a garden - and if you planted the borders very recently, the plants won't have had a chance to get their roots into the surrounding soil very much, so are more likely to dry out.  If there's anything looking very sad and wilted, I'd dig it up and make sure its root ball isn't dry.  You can pop it into a pot and submerge the pot in a bucket of water until the bubbles stop rising to the surface, then replant it.  It's easy to make the mistake of not soaking your new plants enough before putting them into the ground - most of us have done it in our time!  

    I've never used a moisture meter and don't think I'd bother with it...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • paulbaxendale4813wtYe2lypaulbaxendale4813wtYe2ly Posts: 65
    OK thanks  :) most of the plants seemed OK but a spiraea japonica  that had been in the ground a couple of months started to wilt and a stem just fell over and died so I cut it off and since I stopped watering  it its been looking better . That was in a west facing boarder  so got the full afternoon sun.
    And a pale leaved mock orange the leaves started to crisp up but that's got better so all seams well.
    Just when I put pushed the gadget in a few days ago it shot round to wet and I googled root rot ha ha.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Any shrub takes months to establish, so it would be normal for them to look a bit wilted if they've been recently planted, and if they're in sunny sites. Leaves can get crispy quite easily, especially if the plants were grown undercover and have suddenly gone outdoors, and that can happen with hot sun or with cold winds as they can struggle to adapt quickly. It isn't usually terminal. 
    Nothing would get root rot that quickly either, unless there was something very seriously wrong with your soil.  :)
    You haven't said where you're located, or what your soil is like either - that's also important. For example,  I can plant things here and not even water them in, or only water once,  even in summer [and even in this very dry spell we're having] whereas people in the very dry south east couldn't do that. They have to water very thoroughly and often.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.