Today, we take a look at three inexpensive garden gadgets that can be a big help to all types of avid gardeners .
Whether it be maintaining a thriving vegetable garden, beautiful blooming flowerbeds, gorgeous hanging baskets and container plants – or even growing plants inside!
Knowledge is king when it comes to gardening. Especially when it comes to knowing if your soil is too dry or wet. Or perhaps too hot or too cold. And what about it’s PH? Is your soil too acidic, or too alkaline?
Well, with the 3 simple and inexpensive gadgets below, knowledge of all of those questions and more is right at your fingertips. And best of all, instantly!
3 Inexpensive Garden Gadgets Every Gardener Should Own
#1 Soil Thermometer
Having a soil thermometer is a must for so many important garden tasks.
For starters, it’s invaluable when starting seeds indoors. We use our soil thermometer to make sure our seed starting soil is staying warm enough for our seeds to germinate.
Soil temperatures for starting seeds indoors should be somewhere between 62 and 70 for best results. And with the instant read thermometer, we can see right away if it is in the proper range. (See : Keys To Starting Seeds Indoors)
But a soil thermometer has a lot of other great uses too. This garden gadget is the perfect tool in the garden, flowerbeds, and the compost pile too!
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make is to plant seeds or transplants before the soil outside is warm enough. Plant lag and rot in damp cool soil! But with a soil thermometer, a simple stab of the soil tells you if it’s ready or not.
But when it comes to our compost pile, the instant read thermometer is invaluable. Our soil thermometer reads up to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. And sticking the stem down into the core of the pile lets us know what it going on instantly.
If it reads between 130 and 150F, we know all is well. But anything cooler, and either the pile is finished, or it might need some help. It is so much better than guessing for sure! Product Link : AcuRite Soil Temperature Meter – $11.99
Soil Moisture Meter
Another tremendously useful little gadget for gardeners to own is a soil moisture meter.
It is wonderful for checking the soil moisture level in potted plants, containers & hanging baskets. And it works in garden and flower beds too! For us, it means no more guessing whether one of our planter baskets needs watering or not.
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make with plant care is over or under watering. It can be difficult, especially with potted plants and hanging baskets to tell when the soil is dry at the root level.
You might touch the top and think it is bone dry. But meanwhile, a few inches down in the soil, it’s soaked. Or vice-versa. The instant read probe of a moisture meter can make quick work of knowing if plants really need water or not.
We even use ours in the garden to see how dry the overall soil is as well. It’s just a great way to know exactly when and what you need to water. And even more, if you need to water at all!
The color-coded scale and 6″ probe makes it easy to know right away! Product link : Moisture Meter – $14.12
Soil PH Meter
Is your soil too alkaline? Too acidic? Depending on what you grow, a soil’s PH is a big factor for success, or failure. And that is why a Soil PH meter is 3rd on our list of must have garden gadgets.
For us, that was never more apparent than with our blueberry bushes. Blueberries grow best in soil with a PH between 4.3 to 5.5. For two years, our bushes lagged, and it was all because the soil was simply too alkaline.
A quick probe into the soil was more than enough to show us we needed to lower the PH for better results.
Owning a quick-read PH meter is just a great way to always know what is going on in your soil. Product Link : AcuRite Soil PH Meter Instant Read – $13.99
There you have it, three inexpensive and valuable garden gadgets perfect for adding to your garden tool collection this year! Here is to gardening better with better information! Happy Gardening – Jim & Mary
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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