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Luster Leaf
Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit - Luster Leaf
Etekcity
Etekcity Indoor/Outdoor Soil Moisture Sensor Meter, Plant Care Hygrometer - Etekcity

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Luster Leaf http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TxVZAeHeL._SL160_.jpg
Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit - Luster Leaf
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Etekcity http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hrNE1rrYL._SL160_.jpg
Etekcity Indoor/Outdoor Soil Moisture Sensor Meter, Plant Care Hygrometer - Etekcity
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eComparisons Score
eComparisons ScoreThe "Comparison Score" Is calculated based on the average number of times this item was compared with other items in this category by our users
8
8
User Rating (Amazon)
User Rating (Amazon)

Five Star Reviews:

49%
Great kit for new vegetable garden beds!
June 12, 2017
We started a new vegetable garden in our back yard and really needed to test our soil before purchasing nutrients.This kit worked great! We did a total of 5 rounds of testing at the 4 corners of the bed and 1 from the middle then averaged the numbers out. So far our garden is going great! Thank you!!
Worked perfectly for me.
May 31, 2017
I read many of the reviews from folks that reported to get unsatisfactory results. I followed the supplied instructions and every test worked perfectly. I am pleased with the purchase and the results.
Soil test kit
March 1, 2017
My grown son and I are enthusiastic gardeners. We are also technocrats, who would rather apply fertilizer as-needed rather than from ignorance. this test kit at least gives us a chance to know what the local soil deficiencies are, so we don't have to wait for plants' leaves to manifest deficiency with distress symptoms. And without having to send a soil sample away to a distant testing lab.
Don't believe the disbeliever!
January 9, 2015
Most negative reviews say that pH and N test results are not good, where PH is always neutral and Nitrogen is always depleted, some have actually said that they tried even adding vinegar and pH would still be 7 and such. It is a cheap kit so I bought one, I tested my soil and guess what, I got pH neutral and N depleted, actually N test chamber was very clear without any color like fresh water. So I done another test, only adding a few drops of lemon juice to the pH test chamber, and a solution of uria (48-0-0) to the N test chamber instead of soil water, and after some good shaking, the pH was yellow and the N was purpule, I have attached a picture and you can see for yourself. When this test kit tells you the pH is neutral it really is, and when it tells you have no nitrogen you really don't, and you better be spraying a whole lot of it till you get it to "adequate" level.
For the money, it does the job
September 19, 2012
I see other reviews on here talking about "send your soil in to a lab" or other alternatives to this product. Fact is, if you were willing to spend the money to send your soil to a lab, you probably wouldn't be buying this. Probably like you, I bought this because it's cheap and it'll give you a basic idea of what's going on in your garden. Here's how it works:You get 4 vials, one for soil pH, and one each for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). Essentially, you place the directed amount of soil/water mixture into each vial, and add the contents of the corresponding color-coded capsule. The capsules look like pills, the type you can pull apart and the contents spill out. After you empty the capsule into the vial, you place the rubber cap on the vial, shake and let it sit for the specified amount of time. All the quantities and times are clearly listed in the manual. Each vial has a color chart that is near your soil sample window which allows you to compare the color to the chart. This is how you know where your soil stands as far as pH, N, P and K.I've seen some reviews on here saying it's "impossible" to empty the capsules into the vials because they're too small. True, they're small but if you twist them and carefully pull them apart over the vial it's really pretty easy. If you're elderly or have trouble holding your hands still (or you're just spastic), it might be a task for you but it's still doable. It's really not very difficult.I've tested my soil maybe 10 times using this product, and it's never let me down. It doesn't give you an exact number or anything, but any time I've shown low on something, I amended the soil and a few days later it tested fine and the plants looked healthier.It's not extremely precise, but it's reliable and it will definitely tell you if there is something dangerously askew in your garden. My suggestion to the guy that only uses the lab is that either he got a defective one, or he's not cleaning them properly after each use.You should clean them with water thoroughly after each use and don't mix them up. You don't want to use the pH vial for the K test, or any other variant. Keep them clean, follow the directions and don't mix and match.My only complaint is that the vials can be knocked over easily as they have an oddly poor center of gravity. Once the cap is on, who cares. But, when you're filling them or trying to empty the capsule into them, it's pretty easy to knock them over and that's just a big bag of bollox.Anyhow, to sum up, for the money, this product can really, really help. If you're looking for something more precise then spend some more money or send to a lab like the other guy said. If you just want to make sure everything is generally good in your garden, this will probably suit you just fine.Hope this helps
Don't throw money away on fertilizer
February 6, 2012
I grew up on a farm and I've been gardening for over 50 years. When I was a child, we took soil samples to our county agent every few years and guessed during the years between samples. That was not often enough for NKP or PH. The County Agent's report covered 6 or 8 more things such as borax, aluminum, and calcium. Those things change very slowly and only need to be tested for only every 5 to 10 years. In the fifties and sixties, we just assumed the soil would need lime each year; it was acid. However, the amount we used was calculated by rule of thumb. Others used the taste test; tasting the soil to tell if it was sweet or sour; better than nothing but very distasteful when the fertilizer of choice is manure.If you do no other tests, do this one! PH controls whether or not a plant can take up nutrients. All the fertilizer in the world will not help, if the PH is wrong. I purchased the full test set as well as this one so that I could do more frequent PH tests and in more places such as around shrubs, bushes, and trees, especially fruiting trees and bushes. I have been using these products for at least 20 years. This purchase was just to renew my supply. I can usually go 2 or3 years with a full Luster Leaf set plus an extra PH test set. Buy and use it!. It will save you money on fertilizer and you can have the best garden in the neighborhood!
61%
I wouldn't be without this device for my potted plants!
November 9, 2015
These are wonderful devices to measure how moist the soil is in plants you have put in pots. This is otherwise almost impossible by simply lifting the pot and assessing the weight. Unless a pot is plastic, it will be too heavy for this to be accurate. At the same time, checking moisture with your finger will only tell you whether there is moisture in the soil on the very surface, and nothing about how dry or moist the soil is around the roots.This gauge does the trick! I have seen it register dry as I slowly inserted it into a pot with dry soil on the top, then it registered moist as I pushed it in farther, and finally it registered almost wet when I pushed it down to see what the soil at the bottom of the plant was! More plants are killed by overwatering than under watering, and I have certainly been guilty of that myself. With this device, I can see if my plant's roots are in dry, moist, or wet soil, almost by magic!I almost gave a score of 4 stars only because out of my 3 of these devices, one tends to stick in the wet range, forcing me to tap it back after I remove it from wet soil before I can put it into another pot. I didn't realize it was doing this at first and mistakenly believed several pots had very wet soil when they did not. But even then, once you know it's doing that, it does work after a light tap.I highly recommend this product!
It gives instant response regarding soil moisture the results of which are displayed on an easy to read meter
October 27, 2015
I used this product immediately after it arrived and it worked perfectly. It gives instant response regarding soil moisture the results of which are displayed on an easy to read meter. I was surprised to see that despite what appeared to be dry soil was actually quite wet once the tip of the moisture sensor was inserted several inches or more below the surface. Many herbs and sensitive plants do not like to be over watered and this device can certainly help prevent you from doing that. Glad I made the purchase.
works great! must have
March 30, 2015
This product works as intended. I have had it for months without a single issue. I feel that some customers experience problems with theirs because they may be rough with it or may just have received a semi-faulty product, which happens and is understandable. I received a good product that works well.I would be sure to pull out the probe holding it by the probe itself. I say this because I read some people pull out the probe holding it by the top plastic meter part and it pulls off the probe. So just instead of pulling it by the cheap part, just pull it out by the metal probe itself.This product works well and is a must have for reading the moisture level in any plants to gauge if it needs to be water yet or not.Pros:No batteries requiredMeasures moisture levelLong probeEasy to read meterHasn't broke, just be careful with it if you feel it may breakCons:The meter part feels cheaply made, but has stayed together and works 100%I have seen other reviews that some have experiences theirs breaking one way or another - just contact the sellerOverall, it's inexpensive and works great, and sometimes one may receive a faulty one, but then just contact the seller. This is a must have for anyone with a green thumb!
Does it's job
May 24, 2014
No more guessing. This piece of equipment does its job; just push it into the soil and gauge senses the moisture saturation. It only takes a couple of seconds.
Great tool for planters
February 5, 2014
I've had several of these over the years and then Walmart stopped carrying them. I was glad to find them on Amazon and at a fair price. They work great for potted plants as well as in ground. Calif. in drought mode, so will be testing plants frequently and watering very conservatively.
Broke after 10 minutes, but seller replaced it for me
June 18, 2013
This is probably the same moisture meter as the other ones sold on Amazon that have the same look, but Etekcity put its label on it and give it a brand. The probe is a copper tube with a lead tip. When the soil is moist, the moisture in the soil is the electrolyte, and the lead and the copper are the electrode, which together make a lead/copper battery. The voltage drives the current meter and gives a reading. Apparently, the more moist the soil is, the higher the current is.After receiving the meter, I was excited to poke around in the yard and see the dial turn. However, after poking five holes in the soil, the lead tip broke off. I was so sad to see only the copper tube without the lead tip when I withdrew the probe from the ground. I couldn't find the lead tip because it was buried in the soil.This is either a design flaw or a manufacturing flaw in the product, but the lead tip is attached to the copper tube only through a plastic ring. I didn't expect it to break so quickly, so I am disappointed. Seven dollars wasted.UPDATE 07/20/2013:After I posted the above with one star, Etekcity sent me an email and told me they can replace the meter for me. A few days later, a padded envelope arrived. Unfortunately, the probe was broken during shipping. I wrote to Etekcity, so they send me another one in a hard box quickly. That level of service really surpassed my expectations because the item was only seven bucks. Only a few days before, I just lost my dispute resolution at Ebay. A $40 cell phone part that I ordered on Ebay was lost in the mail. After 15+ emails, I simply gave up and admit my bad luck with Ebay.After learning my lesson from the first meter, this time I use a screw driver to poke a hole on the ground before I insert the meter's probe. I planted 40+ oleanders in my yard, and many of them were head down even though I gave each of them 0.6 gallons of water every day. I measured the moisture level and found the soil to be very dry, almost no reading. I doubled the water to be about 1.3 gallons each day. The symptom seemed to be easing. I measured the moisture level again today and found the moisture level was still low (higher than last time). Now I am going to water three times a day for 2 gallons, and I'll update the result in a few days.Five stars for Etekcity service.

Four Star Reviews:

23%
Easy to follow instructions
May 23, 2017
Easy to follow instructions. My lawn is growing like crazy now that I have made the adjustments using this test kit
Soil test kit
May 10, 2017
Worked as described. I was trying to see how my soil in my garden was holding up and this test kit was detailed enough for my needs
Good basic nutrient test
July 6, 2016
Exactly as depicted and described.I got this to test the main nutrients in my soil (obviously) for my vegetable garden. I then proceeded to have a fun "science day" with my sister as we tested the soil. Results are quick and easy to read.I have no way to tell if the results are accurate, but it said my potash, nitrogen, phosphorous, and pH are fine and my garden has been doing great, so I assume it is telling me the truth!Pros:All of my results were easy to read. I don't know if they would be as easy to read for the lower levels of nutrients if your soil water is cloudy.Everything is easily color coded for the different tests and nutrients.The containers seal very well.The instructions are very clear.There is a reorder slip with the kit so I don't have to search for how to get refills for more tests.It comes with 10 testing capsules for each nutrient (40 capsules total).I think the design is good, however there were a few minor annoyances:The test capsules are difficult to open and I ended up spilling the powder a few times.The test containers have tiny plastic feet to make them stand easily, but those feet are smaller than the blob of plastic on their bottom from manufacturing. I need to sand off that blob for them to stand up and not topple over.Once the lids are on they fall over quite easily.Altogether, I like the product, and the annoyances in design are not a problem.If nothing else it is a great teaching tool and science experiment kit!
Now I know how to fertilize my garden! Works as intended.
May 30, 2016
The Luster Leaf Rapitest Soil test kit works as described! I looked at a variety of these before purchasing and settled on this one because it seemed the most straightforward and well loved. It certainly lived up to that expecation!1) Yes, it is a little difficult to open the capsules of powder for testing. However, I've determined that if you twist the halves apart that works best and you are less likely to spill the powder everywhere.2) I could see where someone with larger hands and little dexterity might find the twisting and dropping the powder into the test chamber might be difficult. For smaller hands like my own, this is fine. But I really doubt this will be trouble for most.3) The only thing I wish this could do was be more specific, but it's obviously not designed to be so. For specific values I've submitted a soil test to my local department of agriculture for testing. But this certainly sent me in the right direction for fertilization in the meantime.Would certainly repurchase.
Easy to use test
May 2, 2016
The dirt in my veggie garden is pretty bad. I didn't add much to replenish the nutrients in the soil for years and that's exactly what this test verified. This is a simple / easy to use test that you can do yourself. I don't think it's worth paying the money to have your soil checked by some lab. I have a feeling you'll probably wait a few weeks before you get your results.The one thing I didn't like (why I only gave 4 stars) is that it can be hard to tell the shade of the color. You have to match up your test sample color to a color strip. This sounds easy but it may be hard to do with your test sample.
It seems to work ok
September 6, 2013
I bought this in hopes of getting my soil back to a normal pH. Let me start by saying I have a female cocker spaniel who tends to kill grass everywhere she squats. In the areas where she frequently squats we couldn't get grass to grow at all. I even bought grass guaranteed to grow anywhere. I would put fresh topsoil down and try to plant grass to no avail. Finally I decided the soil must be ridiculously acidic due to my furry friend. So, I purchased this test and did a series of tests over the course of 2 months as we tried various products to neutralize the soil. Once this test showed a good pH for grass, I tried planting the seeds again. To my delight the seeds took and we now have beautiful grass growing for the first time in 5 years! I wish I had purchased this test prior to spending all that money on my futile attempts to plant grass on the acidic soil!
13%
Great, but can be inconsistent.
April 20, 2017
Worked great from January 30th until today (4/20/2017). Then it stopped working. Lame.UPDATE: Well, just as I was about to throw it out, I put it in some water and the thing pegged to "wet". I then tried it on my plants and it works fine now. I will post back here if it changes, but I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 for inconsistency.
Helpful, albeit cheaply made device, for quickly checking moisture in a succulent garden
December 11, 2016
This is a very helpful, albeit cheaply made device, for quickly checking moisture in a succulent garden. I have a couple hundred pots in my backyard containing all kinds of succulents. Since the pots are all different sizes and made of different materials, I can never accurately tell which pot needs watering, which don’t (too many cacti to just put one’s finger in the soil). This device, when pushed cautiously into the soil, indicates what seems to be an accurate moisture reading from pot to pot. One does not want to over-water succulents (and not waste precious water). In using this device weekly, I have avoided watering pots indiscriminately, and focused on those that have need. In the summer, I might just put the probe in a few pots and get an average reading, usually telling me that I should go ahead and water them all—or perhaps wait a couple more days. The process takes about 5 minutes.Two things to watch out for: be very careful about pushing the probe into the soil next to your plants. It can damage the roots. Also, when pushing probe into soil, do not put your thumb on the clear plastic readout and squeeze too hard. Otherwise it will pop that piece inward, thereby ruining the device (one reason I’m back on this page). The advice of one reviewer to make a hole with a small screwdriver prior to inserting the probe is a good one. Lastly, consider cleaning the probe with a paper towel after each insertion, thereby not possibly contaminating other pots with an unobserved disease from another pot.
Indispensable for clay soil.
September 26, 2016
My sapling fruit trees kept dying. Turns out the general advice to "deep water once a week" was no good for my heavy clay soil. Thanks to this meter, I have discovered that I should only be watering them twice a month on average otherwise the soils is just too wet. Every weekend I check my trees and deep water only when the meter is touching the red. My trees are now flourishing. Only thing I knocked a star off for is that the copper tube is a little thin. There are lots of little bends and kinks in it. I expect it will only last about a year for me, but that's reasonable for the price.
Great product
July 31, 2016
The tips keep breaking off when pulling these out, or the tube shaft breaks when trying to get it into compacted soil - this was totally my fault though, not the product, but something to keep in mind when buying: if you have compacted dirt, maybe buy backups. These seem to be the only accurate meters I can find - we've tried a couple others, but these really work best, just have to use them carefully. We dig in with a screwdriver first now when moving the meter from tree to tree, or (since I bought 4 more because I kept breaking them) we just leave them in place and on watering days just walk by the trees to see which ones need water. Would (and have) buy again.
Responsive and accurate
February 3, 2016
Pros: Responsive, pretty accurateCons: None yetI just recently got a few house plants that have different water requirements. Rather than feeling the soil to see if each one needs water, I got this moisture sensor to take the guesswork out. It's been holding up fine and seems to be pretty accurate. The sensor is very responsive - it reads the moisture level instantly. I haven't had problems with it breaking like other reviews have mentioned, but will update my review accordingly if it happens.
Slightly little fragile, but a useful tool!
July 4, 2015
This is a useful product if you have various plants in different sizes pots. I generally check every day If they need water, and this really comes in handy, as I have a tendency to overwater. (I water when the top becomes dry and the bottom of the pot will still be almost wet) so very useful. However I do notice there is a little inaccuracy from pot to pot. The product says 15 seconds but I leave probe in the soil for about a minute to accurately gauge the moisture level. It fluctuates For about 20 seconds or so going from dry to moist. All in all this product is a little fragile, you need to gently insert and remove for fear of bending the pole. But this has successfully helped my plants survive myOverwatering and I am happy with my purchase.

Three Star Reviews:

12%
Not sure if it really works
July 18, 2017
I got the same results as others, my Nitrogen says it's depleted. I find that hard to believe as we do Scott's weed and feed twice a year and put down lime and Potash where we get moss.
Easy to use
June 19, 2017
Worked well and I was able to determine that my yard was low on nitrogen. My yard looks so much better now. Doing multiple samples around the yard was time intensive. The directions were clear and easy to follow.
Will not test Nitrogen for me.
March 9, 2017
The Nitrogen test doesn't work at all for me, and that's what I really needed. It showed "Depleted" (aka no nitrogen reaction). I thought that was odd since I heavily fertilized last fall and now my lawn was the greenest in the neighborhood. But I trusted it and fertilized with a high rate of 34-0-0. Two weeks (and 2.3" rain) later I tested again and it showed "Depleted". ?? Now I lost trust and added some of my 34-0-0 pellets to the soil solution and let them dissolve. I tested again and still no Nitrogen! I attached those pictures. What gives?Perhaps it's because of the color of my soil. You will see in the pictures that even after I followed the directions and let my solution set 24 hours, yes 24 painful hours of muddy water in the kitchen, even then the water was very brown. Maybe the tester fails to produce a strong enough color change to read.Edit: I emailed LusterLeaf and they think it might take more time for Nitrites to convert to Nitrates. They also say I should wait longer than 24 hours and see if the water clears up.
Works but is awkward to use
November 17, 2015
This seemed to test the pH okay, but the tube is difficult to use and fill properly. I found the design to be lacking. However, it got the job done, and was very well priced.
Not sure I trust it..
September 25, 2013
It provides reasonable results on the pH (that's easy), potentially on the potassium and phosphorus, but I don't trust the nitrogen reading at all. I put recently-fertilized soil in and it showed zero nitrogen. I put straight fertilizer in, still zero nitrogen. Probably better to dig up a soil sample and send it off to your local county extension type joint for a legit analysis if you're going to base much off of the results. Or do that in one location where you also take a sample with this, and if it matches then continue on with this. If not, chuck it and write a review!
Satisfactory at best.
July 21, 2013
While more acidic soils will indeed read more acidic with this test, the actual Ph value isn't accurate. I know for a fact that my soil is slightly acidic at the least, yet every test comes out as neutral or alkaline. I tried to test peat moss, which is supposed to be acidic, and indeed it read acidic; but only 6.0. Peat moss is supposed to be a Ph 4.8-5.2. Take results with a grain of salt, I recommend getting your soil professionally tested.
6%
Tip corroded - cannot leave in the soil
September 3, 2017
We thought we could leave the sensor in the flower pot and watch it daily. WRONG. The tip corroded until after a few months the device no longer worked. It seems we should have plugged into the soil, read the gauge, removed and cleaned the sensor tip each time.
It was really useful in keeping my plants well watered while it work ...
July 29, 2017
At first it worked but noticed that after 5 month of using it kept measuring dry despite dirt being visibly moist. Tried it in multiple potted plants and in a cup full of water and still read the same. Had to throw away since was no longer measuring accurately. It was really useful in keeping my plants well watered while it work though.
it's me not you?
July 16, 2016
I'm just not sure if the product is defective or if my lawn is as bone dry as the product says. I can barely make that needle move at all. I initially purchased this to augment my IQ when using the RACHIO smart irrigation controller. I wanted to see if the moisture sensor would match up with what Rachio thought was going on in my soil for the lawn. So far, I am not seeing much in terms of usable information. Even after running the sprinklers, it still shows the soil as bone dry. :( It was a cheap 'toy' so I'm not too upset and I will continue to test I guess after a huge rainfall to see if it works better. I just feel like it is giving me data that I can visually see. I can only get that needle to move when the soil is VISIBLY wet.
Doesn't work for certain soil type
June 29, 2016
Works for regular potting soil, but doesn't work for soil mix containing sand, perlite, etc. for extra drainage. I have a pot of succulents which uses special soil mix for extra drainage. The Etekcity Soil Moisture Sensor didn't work at all for my succulents. I have another pot of plant which uses regular potting soil like "MiracleGro", the moisture sensor worked well. So I guess it depends on the type of soil you have -moisture sensors don't work on all soils.
... to give it 3 stars because it did a great job for about week
May 13, 2016
I am going to give it 3 stars because it did a great job for about week. We got lots of rain in our area for a few days. When the rain stopped the soil was very wet and the sensor was right on it. I measured the soiled a few days after and noticed that the humidity levels were going down. I was going to give it 5 stars but the problem i had with the sensor is that the tip was somewhat loose when received, not sure if it was supposed to be like that but the tip of the sensor is now missing. Very disappointing.
For house plants in soft soil it's fine
April 8, 2016
Works okay for the price. Testing mine by submersion in water it read only "moist", but I'm not sure that is fair test since one doesn't normally grow plants that way [how wet is your water?]. Mine also wouldn't work in orchid bark probably for the opposite reason because there's too much airspace. For potted houseplants that use soil mine seems to work. As others have reported it's probably too fragile for hard dirt, like one finds outside.

Two Star Reviews:

6%
Difficult to perform tests, pH test totally inaccurate.
April 29, 2017
Followed directions explicitly. The color it turned did not match any of the colors on the card. Very frustrating.
Ya get what ya pay for
April 7, 2017
The cons: They could have made every thing easier to use. The caps on the test bottles are hard to take off. The test bottles wont stand on their own and they're small. The test capsules are challenging to pull apart w/o spilling the power.The pros: the instructions are really good easy to understand and explain alot. The price is reasonable compared to professional lab results
Inaccurate N, P, K results. pH okay
October 5, 2016
I had soil samples sent to two different labs plus tested the same soil samples with this test kit. The pH results from this test kit were pretty close to the lab results, but the other three tests were not even close. My recommendation is to buy the pH-only test kit if you only want pH results. If you need N, P, K results, don't waste your money on this kit. Spend the $15-20 and send your soil sample to a lab.
Every Sample Tested PH 7.0 -7.5
March 29, 2014
I didn't want to pay $9 for multiple tests through Penn State plus cost of shipping so I bought this. After testing my garden I was a bit surprised to see the PH was 7.0 to 7.5 on every sample taken when Pennsylvania is known for acidic soil. I sent a sample to Penn State to get a more accurate test and the PH came back at 5.7 which is significantly lower than this test concluded. I thought maybe it was my well water so I bought distilled water with the same result. I tested the soil 6 to 7 times with the exact same results. I added a drop of Vinegar and it turned the test bright red but the test doesn't seem to be sensitive enough to detect subtle soil acidity.
Not accurate at all
March 10, 2014
For every soil sample I tested this powder with, it indicated it was 7.5 ph. I even tried some of my almost pure peat mix in it and it said it was 7.5, which is the highest the meter will go so I'm assuming it's just bad powder. I tested the same soil in the other compartment with my liquid ph tester (also bought on here, good stuff), and it showed the real PH values (5.0 for my peat mix), 6.5 for my other regular soil. So it gets to keep a star because I'll use the container for testing with my liquid ph tester.
NPK weren't reliable at all. Get just the Ph test for half the price.
July 15, 2013
The Ph test seemed to work okay. However, the nitrogen test ran low, the potassium test ran high, and the phosphorus test was just confusing. As a control, I tried testing my tap water. As expected, I got a Ph of 7 and N0 (Depleted) nitrogen. Potassium, on the other hand, was somewhere between K2 (adequate) and K3 (sufficient)! I know there are trace minerals in tap water so I looked up potassium in a recent town water quality report. It said there are only 8 parts-per-million potassium in our tap water so I wouldn't expect such a strong reaction. (I suspect it may be cross reacting with sodium instead.) The phosphorus test was hard to interpret because the test chemical came out of solution as it changed color. The instructions gave no indication whether this was how it's supposed to work or if you're supposed to mix it back in to read the results.When I tried it on actual soil, I got Ph = 6.5, K = K4 (probably exaggerated like the result for plain water), P = P2 (again with extra blue material condensed on the bottom) and N = N0. I was suspicious of the nitrogen result since the plant didn't seem nitrogen starved. I dropped some broken fragments of a tomato fertilizer spike directly into the solution and it barely changed color at all. Do your plants a favor and avoid amending soil based on such unreliable NPK tests. You might get some use out of the Ph test though.
6%
Limited life expectancy
June 28, 2017
Worked when I used it about a dozen times last summer, but first time this summer, the probe tip stayed in the ground when I pulled it up. So that's the end of that.
Sensor tip lost in soil.
March 13, 2017
This unit worked as expected until the sensor tip disappeared halfway through the season. Really inconvenient in a dry summer where our containers often needed water twice per day.
Nice product but not durable at all
July 26, 2016
I have had two of these and neither has lasted more than a couple months. The tip, which is what actually detects the moisture, breaks off easily when inserted into the ground, which is the only purpose of having the tip in the first place.
my plant fell over
April 25, 2016
I bought mine last Fall and it worked well until last night. I was re potting a large plant and trying to find out if the new soil was wet eough. I kept adding water and the meter was still on the left hand peg, indicating that it was very parched. I added some more water today and the plant fell over! Can I do anything to resurrect it or do I have buy a new one?
... house plants but this turned out to be a waste of time
January 9, 2016
Purchased to check my house plants but this turned out to be a waste of time. Spent a few minutes testing in a few different soil types and moisture content but no consistent/reliable reading. Back to the true-and-tried finger test.
The greatest value in this is to use to test how ...
November 10, 2014
Not impressed by this. Very dry lawn seems to either reads totally dry or very wet. Maybe this isn't made to work in our clay soil. The greatest value in this is to use to test how hard (dry) the soil is by seeing how easily you can press the probe into the ground!

One Star Reviews:

10%
Did not work
July 1, 2017
Did not work. All tests for N, P and K show depleted, even though the garden beds were prepped with Miracle Gro soil (50/50 with native soil) and currently have tomatoes, cukes and corn growing in them. Have a hard time believing all are depleted, more likely the contents of the capsules was expired. pH showed middle of the road, but water was still about the same brown color as the others.
Did not come with the capsules!
May 2, 2017
Did not come with any capsules! Making it useless.
Plastic tester box arrived cracked and pills busted open.
April 7, 2017
Plastic tester box arrived cracked and pills busted open.
Waste of money
September 23, 2015
I seriously doubt that this product works as advertised. Tested three soil samples and saw slight differences in the acidity based on the color scale. Added acid to some of the soils to see if I could get anything close to the colors for acidic soil: nothing. Added bases: Still nothing. Waste of money.A month later. Used a different batch and tested. Got some results that seem to match the commercial soil testing service. Tried adding acid to this batch and it immediately went bright red. Perhaps the first batch was old or defective.
Didn't work at all
January 6, 2014
I followed the directions to the letter but found that none of the tests yielded any results except dirty water. No colors appeared except n the Ph test. Even for my organic vegetable bed that I keep rich in organic matter, no nutrients registered. The product was a huge disappointment.
Doesn't work
July 20, 2013
I did 4 tests from different sections of the garden. They all showed 0 nitrogen. I was suspicious of the results so I added some nitrogen fertilizer and they still read zero. The P test showed a color far more intense than the highest reading on the chart. The test for potash indicated zero for all 4 tests. I performed all analyses carefully and according to the directions.
14%
Doesn't work
May 22, 2017
Apparently, multiple items are being reviewed under this one listing, so this is for Etekcity Indoor/Outdoor Soil Moisture Sensor. It didn't work from day 1. It stays constantly on "dry" even when the soil is completely saturated. The only way to get the needle to jump is to pour water directly on the sensor.
My poor plants!
March 2, 2017
I bought one of these from Etekcity a few months ago. It doesn't work anymore. See the photo....it is in open air and shows Moist....good way to kill my poor plants.
Useful tool for house plants
November 23, 2015
I had rated this with 5 stars, but I am changing it to a 1 star after only a couple months of sparing use. The zinc tip came off in one of my plants somehow, somewhere, so the tip is missing, and it doesn't appear to work without it. I'm pretty upset. It didn't last long...
The unit just stopped working
November 13, 2015
very helpful for my plants wintering over inside. update: Was working fine and helpful wintering over all my plants around my pool. The unit just stopped working. Lasted 2 1/2 months, very unfortunate .
OK for a disposable unit that lasts but a short time
September 19, 2015
Works great! For an entire week!! I've bought three of these (yes, I'm slow on the uptake but two were differently branded but apparently made at the same place in China). All failed quickly due to the tip coming off in the ground.
(Updated - Not even soft soil safe)....Maybe good for soft soil but normal yards...not so much.
April 20, 2015
I've had this meter for a few months but only recently have I began to use it. Needless to say,it worked decent during the first few 'measurements' of my flower bed, however, while I was trying to measure the moisture around my citrus tree the tip just broke off in the ground. With no way of retrieving the tip without digging up my yard I realized the meter was now useless. So yeah for soft 'potting soil' this can probably be useful but using it on harder packed (normal ground) seems pointless unless you want several 'tips' buried in your yard. :(4-29-15 Update: I purchased another one of these (I was desperate) to use mainly in my loose soil flower beds. I figured it worked before I'd just have to avoid using it on normal ground. Well, I was wrong....I measured my flower bed and the tip went missing. I tried to dig it out (due to the soil was loose enough) just so I could return the tip too....but I changed my mind due to frustration. I guess I'll have to find something else to use even in loose soil. (-_-). Needless to say....returning the tip-less meter due to it not working at all.My advice....try something else...this is not work the hassle!
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Pricing info
Old Price
Old Price
$12.99
Price
Price
$14.54updated: Mar 19, 2020
$7.99updated: Feb 17, 2020
Features
Answered Questions
Answered Questions
Article Number
Article Number
3372676192615
0025706348607
Binding
Binding
Lawn & Patio
Tools & Home Improvement
Brand
Brand
Luster Leaf
Etekcity
Currency
Currency
USD
USD
Formatted Price
Formatted Price
$16.99
$20.00
Height
Height
334.6 in
19.7 in
Length
Length
51.6 in
448.8 in
Manufacturer
Manufacturer
Luster Leaf
Etekcity
Model
Model
1601
025706348607
MPN
MPN
1601
21-MOS-METER
Number of Parts
Number of Parts
1601
21-MOS-METER
Product Group
Product Group
Lawn & Patio
Home Improvement
Product Type
Product Type
OUTDOOR_LIVING
TOOLS
Publisher
Publisher
Luster Leaf
Etekcity
Quantity
Quantity
1
1
Reviews
Reviews
Score
Score
7.8
7.8
Size
Size
1-Pack
1 Pack Moisture Meter
Studio
Studio
Luster Leaf
Etekcity
Width
Width
359.4 in
444.9 in
Feature
Feature

Innovative and inexpensive soil test kit features an easy-to-use capsule system and color comparators

Contains tests for ph, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels; 40 tests in total

Also has a chart of pH and NPK levels for more than 100 plants

Simple, fast, and accurate results; no experience required to perform tests

Includes complete instructions for adjusting soil conditions

Measure soil's moisture content by just plugging in the probe

Easy to read moisture levels, including ten scales

No batteries or electricity needed, plug and read

Color coded reading system, from red, green to blue

Compact and portable design for indoor/outdoor use

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