Dropped $18 on a tiny humidity meter for my calathea and it turned into a total disaster
I grabbed a cheap little hygrometer at the hardware store in Boise and stuck it next to my calathea, figuring I'd finally stop guessing about misting. Turns out the thing read 15% lower than reality, so I soaked the soil every other day for two weeks thinking it was dry air. The plant rotted from the roots up and I lost three leaves before I caught on. Anyone else get burned by trusting a cheap meter instead of just sticking a finger in the dirt?
My grandma kept a $2 stick of chalk in her fiddle leaf pot for 30 years and swore it told her when to water, said it felt damp or dry when she touched it. She never lost a plant to root rot, so maybe the old ways work better than a battery powered gadget from the store. Feels like the dirt knows more than a plastic box ever will.