The Blumat Digital is a precise soil-moisture sensor that provides useful data to help you fine-tune your watering practices.

Large pots' moisture content is not always easy to estimate simply by looking at the soil or sticking your finger in. This Blumat Digital sensor removes the guesswork from watering and establishing irrigation systems. You'll be able to tell if your plants need water and how much to give them. You'll wonder how you ever got along without the Blumat Digital once you start using it.

• Set up your irrigation system or hand watering routine precisely.
• This uses tensiometer technology to outperform cheap moisture metres.
• Stop guessing if plants need water and deliver the exact amount every time!
• Never again will you have an under- or over-watered plant.

Keeping your soil at the ideal moisture level ensures that the plants have a constant supply of water and that soil microorganisms are functioning optimally. Allowing potting soil to dry from wet to dry disrupts the plant's water supply, causing stress and slowing growth. Dry soil will also cause soil microbes to go dormant, which is especially harmful in organic gardening, where soil microbes cycle nutrients by breaking down organic matter to provide nutrition to the plant.

Keeping the soil at its optimal moisture level promotes rapid growth, healthy soil, and thus healthy plants!

The Blumat Digital uses tensiometer technology to indicate when your soil requires watering, all with the press of a button. A tensiometer measures the'suction power' of your soil, providing readings that indicate how easy it is for the roots of your plants to access water.

The Blumat Digital Tensiometer performs best when left alone. You will have a consistent reading 12 hours after inserting the probe into the soil. They are not intended to be moved frequently.

• Soak the grey tube with ceramic cone in water for at least 15 minutes.
• Use water that has been boiled and left to cool to minimise the oxygen content.
• Fill the tube with water and attach to the digital display head.
• Press and hold the "On" button for several seconds until "000" or "---" is displayed.
• Insert the Blumat Digital into the soil and wait at least 45 minutes.
• Press the "On" button, digital reading will be displayed.

Note: for a more accurate reading, wait 12 hours after inserting into the soil.

For light-loving, fast-growing, fruits flowers and vegetables in organic living soil, the following readings are ideal:

• 120-150 mbar for establishing young plants.
• 100-120 mbar for early vegetative growth.
• 80-100 mbar for late veg and flowering/fruiting.
• 100-150 bar for late flowering/fruiting.

These numbers are a guide and can vary dependent on the plant species and environmental growing conditions.

(High value = Dry; Low value = Wet. A reading of 0 millibars is equivalent to fully saturated, achieved when the ceramic cone of the meter is in a cup of water. A reading of 750 millibars is equivalent to dry soil with little to no moisture content.)

It is important to avoid getting the Digital top part wet. If using outdoors, or in hand watering situations where the Blumat Digital may get watered over, use with the Blumat Digital Protection Cap.

• Measurements in mbar
• Measurement range: 10-750 mbar
• Low battery indicator
• Battery included (3V CR2302)
• Measurement depth: 19cm