Hi ernie - I like this style but one I got at Summer Winds didn't last long and I took it back. The tip at the bottom got lost in the soil almost immediately. Don't get a digital one, you can't read them in the sun. Duh!

That's what most of the reviews say, that the tip breaks off.

I have one of those ones in Mary's picture and it has lasted over 4 years for me. They work a lot better than anything else I've bought and they were also the cheapest. It doesn't feel flimsy so I'd imagine the people that broke the tip off tried to leave it in clay soil and it dried around it.. (I wouldn't leave it in soil btw, it would probably corrode over time)

I agree with iandy....I've had one that lasted years, one that lasted less than a month. The current one I have has two prongs, it's a dual purpose (light and moisture), which I don't care for but I've had trouble finding these lately and bought that one so I'd have *something*. It's been working for about 6 months.

I did not leave mine in the soil but did try to use it in some pretty crusty dirt, which when you think about it is not the meter's fault. One could tell by *looking at* the soil that it was dry. :-\ so mea culpa on that one.

The probes are cheap ($10), reliable and don't require batteries. But the probe is easy to break. Especially if you poke it into hard clay soil or insist on trying to push it through a subterranean rock. I wish their pH counterparts worked.