I have one... it works ok, although I really trust my sense of touch for the moisture end of things a lot better. My meter cost roughly $24 and it checks moisture, ph levels, light, and fertilizer levels, I believe. I really don't use it that often, if that tells you anything.

Well, what I will say will most likely not be what you would like to hear, but it is my experience, what I learned from more experienced peoples and from some serious reading. But it in not God's word in any ways! ((:

First, for all these "gadgets", the degree of accuracy is not very high since they are not scientific instruments.

Moisture meters: it all depend on the type of soil that you have and the salts, minerals salts that is, contained in the soil or added through fertilizing. This will make a lot of difference in your readings for the same degree of moisture. You also have to take into account the kind of plant that you intend to use your meter on. It wont work with orchids, and a cactus will tell you it badly needs water while it may have the right condition. To me, this is a gadget, noting more, and Jodi pointed out what to me is the very best moisture indicator: your finger. But first, try to learn what the natural conditions are for your plant and try to give it those conditions as much as you can.

Light meter: it will usually tell you only one thing about light, lux quantity or similar value, while there so much more to know about light: quantity, quality, spectrum, duration to name the most important. Again, the better choice to me is to learn what the needs of your plants are in its natural environment and try to give it the conditions that are closest to this. As a short guide, let take a large window, 6x'6'. The outside surface of the glass pane recieves 100% of the available light. Cross the pane, get inside right in the center of the window, a plants that would stand there would get only 80% at the most of the available light if you have clear thin double glass. If you move towards the top, the sides or the bottom of your window, you are already down another 10% at 70%. At 3' from the center of your window, you are down to about only 5-10% of the availabe light. If your window is smaller, it wont let in as much light and except for the center figure riight on the glass, all the others will be somewhat lower.

I believe that such informations are far better to know than the purchase of any of these devices will ever teach you. I agree with you though, they are not that easily found, there is more money to be made selling these devices than passing on some useful information. And with the money you save, why not buy a couple more plants? (-; You can even kill one learning how your plants behave and may be have money left to replace it!

And last, have you ever noticed that these devices can generally only be seen on the shelves of the garden centers, not if ever in the hands of plants' care takers?

Good gardening to you, enjoy your plants!

Laurier

Thanks for your responses.
I just wonder if my plants get more light under my grow lights or in the window, because the window is between houses and faces west.

What kind of grow lights do you have? Are they 4' long? 4 or 2 lights per fixtures? How many hours a day are they on? How close to the lights are the plants? What kind of fluorescent light are they, true Growlite, cool white, warm white? About your window, around what is the size? What is the distance between the other house and your window, about? Does the sun gets in through this window sometime during the year or never?

Hope you can help me a bit with these questions, I'll better be able to give you an opinion and explain why I say such or such a thing. Take care!

Laurier

I would like to throw something else to consider...

Have you ever heard of a radiometer? It is a glass ball or sorts that is a vacuum. Inside this depressurized ball is a set of four or more plates that are attached to a staff that sits atop a needle.

The use is very simple-- as light hits it, it'll begin to spin (one side of the plates is black and the other side is usually white or silver). The black absorbs the energy and will release it as a heat energy (instead of light) and it'll cause the entire staff to rotate on the pin.

If you count the number of rotations per minute in direct full, noon sun that'll give you a baseline of how much "light" energy your plants get wherever they may be. Here in Colorado, the sun is very intense-- I can see rpms in te hundreds per minute-- meanwhile, inside, my radiometer will read a lot less. On a cloudy day it may not even move inside-- but supplemental light inside, my radiometer will spin much more-- tell me just how much my plants are really getting.

Again-- its called a radiometer-- and they're usually fancy looking and all because most people use them as decoration-- but mine actually serves a purpose!!! I got mine on eBay.

Ryan

My lights are '2 and there are two of them. Growlites. They are on over my hippie babies for 14 hours a day.

The window is about '8 x '5. The distance between the window and the other house is about '10 - '15.
I just moved here so I don't know how much better the sun gets in the summer but in fall there is not alot. It doesn't get hot, even on a sunny day.

A radiometer huh? Im gonna go look for that right now.

Thanks guys!

Hello again,

Here is my opinion which in no way should be construed as "THE" last word on the subject, others may see things differently.

Growlites have a wide spectrum of light which normally would make them a better choice. Their efficiency also depend on their number, their model number, the company that makes them, etc. The newer models on the market are much better than the older models. Still, they cost a small fortune.

The known problem with this kind of light is that even though they have a very good spectrum, their intensity is usually not enough unless you gang them up. Intensity is often better than a better spectrum. For instance, the cool white fluorescent costs ten times less than Growlites, but they have much more intensity, and their spectrum is not that bad either. From all points of view, they should be prefered over "special lights" like Growlites in my opinion.

What's more, 2' long is very short. A fluorescent light gives more light at its center than at its ends, with 2' long, I would say you get around 1-1.5' of useful light. Seedlings light's needs are not as high as for mature plants, to some degree, but they should be at no more than 4-6" from the lights; 14 hours a day is a good choice.

Your window seems to be a very good window! Provided that there are no shades, blinds or curtain to cut the light off, I would say it would be a much better choice, to me anyway, when compared to your light set-up. Sun is one thing, light is something else even if it comes from the sun. I may be wrong, but your window, even if it doesn't get full sun must nevertheless be very bright.

May I suggest something? Can you put your light cart in your window? You would get the best of both worlds: bright daylight and fluorescent to extend the day? If you could change your tubes to cool white, it would be even better (if your Growlites are more than 3 years old they would need to be changed anyway). This would also allow your hippies to grow year round untill they don't fit under your lights anymore and may be have them bloom sooner.

Good luck to you!!!

Laurier

I use both the sunlight and the supplemental lighting to be sure my plants are getting enough light.

I have all of my plants grouped as close to the east facing window as I possibly can. This gives them a decent dose of sunlight from sunrise until about noon... then, 48" shop lights take over and are the only source of light until the timer shuts them off sometime after midnight. I have the timer set so the plants get about 16 hours of light per day, total.

Since I hung the light fixtures, I've noticed a vast improvement in plant growth. For some of my plants, the sunlight coming in the window might be enough... but since I have orchids and other higher light plants, the fixtures really help give everyone the light they need. Clivias and other lower light plants enjoy the filtered sun that comes in the south facing window, with no supplemental lights.

I would say that if you can possibly utilize both natural light and supplemental lighting in the same window area, you'll be assured your bulbs are getting the proper amount of light.

So I looked online for a radiometer and found a store in Vancouver that sells handblown ones that are very beautiful. More expensive than the "toy" ones on eBay but very pretty! Here's the link if you'd like to check them out.

http://www.handblowngifts.com/Store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=BCI&Category_Code=H-I

Wow, Erin... those are beautiful! A bit expensive, but they are hand blown... gosh, that would be cool to have! I think my husband would even like these!

Thanks for the link!

Erin-- I'm telling you-- fancy or not, you will love a radiometer-- they're just so cool in how they work-- physics at its most basic laws. And lets face it-- nothing is better to see than your radiometer spinning at several 100s of rpms...you KNOW your plants are getting the light they want and need.

Mine looks closest to this one.

Those are awesome! What a great way to test light, and to have it decorative at the same time! It's now on my list of "must haves"!