Stupid question concerning watering sphag

[kewpie]

i know some people consider this an embarassing newbie thing to do, but i stick a bamboo stick into the pots of my plants in sphag -- hey, it works. i water only when the top feels crispy and the stick comes out dry. i have pretty low humidity here in montana, so the sphag on top of the pot dries out sooner than that in the middle. i mist the top of the sphag a little when the bamboo stick is still damp. i also alternate layers of sphag+charcoal+coarse spongerock and styrofoam peanuts.

[PAGrower]

i know some people consider this an embarassing newbie thing to do, but i stick a bamboo stick into the pots of my plants in sphag -- hey, it works.

I do it and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. I have a toothpick in every single one of my plants that I check prior to watering. It's a time-consuming pain, but it beats the hell out of throwing out dead plants.

[Liz]

I do it, too, and I'm not embarassed to admit it. I am embarassed to admit that I hadn't thought of toothpicks as a way to avoid poking myself in the eyes with the long bamboo sticks in my pots as I bend over to inspect a little closer...
Liz

[Heather]

toothpicks are a great idea! I was using the skewers, but found they weren't helping me very much. I'm working on a new system...

[pretty_bug01]

All my plants but one is in clay. So I use the weight test. You can tell the difference between the weight of the plant when it is wet and just watered to one that needs to be watered. Not much of a difference, but you get the hang of it after a while. But I water every three days anyways.