Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this meter about 2yrs. ago and it works fine. I think what the other neg. reviewers are failing to do even on brand new meters is to keep the probe clean, not just visually clean. These work off a chemical and electrical reaction if the probe has any oxidation which starts the minute after you clean the probe it varies or even blocks the electron flow, distorting or even blocking the reading entirely. With mine before I go to use it I pinch a peice of steel wool in my fingers and run it back and forth a couple times than wipe it clean. Do this and you'll find very acurate and subtle changes in readings. You also don't need to do all the soil prep as one reviewer said. Just collect and test watering run off from potted plants. If you want to test straight soil, yes the soil must be moist and you'll learn to make the slight needed adjustments in readings with practice, no big deal. Keep in mind salt water conducts electricity better than fresh, it's nearly the same principle as to why the directions what you to test mixed and dissolved soil. I did this once for acuracy and than acounted for the diffrence when I test straight into the potted soil with no prep. Do wipe probes inbetween test and maintain consistent probe depth. (Duh the more metal that's in contact with the test medium soil/water the greater the flow of electrons will be and to the meter, effecting it.) I test my watering solutions and it is acurate enough that if the water is wavey hitting the probe at different hights the meter reads these subtle diffrences. In short great product especially under $15, you just have to be smarter than the meter.