Product Manual

Page 6 - www.turf-tec.com

Please note that if the readings are adjusted and rainfall occurs, the rain will often act as

sodium flush and wet readings will read lower then 100% in the soil until the sodium or

mineral levels reach the re-calibrated levels.

Probe wear and accuracy of readings

The Turf-Tec Digital Moisture Sensor comes with two probes that have a protective

cover over the main portion of the probe with just the bottom one inch exposed to the

soil. Once the unit is calibrated for your soil, if any areas of the protective coating are

worn away or damaged, there will be more metal exposed to the soil, thus giving artificial

higher readings. Care should be taken each day before readings are made to inspect

the protective coatings on the probes and if this material is worn or damaged, now

probes should be inserted in order to achieve accurate readings.

Readings over 100%

The Turf-Tec Digital Moisture Sensor will display readings over 100%, in fact the read

out will go up to 199%. The reason for this is to alert the user that the unit should be

calibrated so that the maximum reading shown is 100% on any area on your property

that you are checking moisture on. For golf greens and sports fields, different

construction techniques, age of areas, thatch build up and renovations account for

variations in soil types and variations in organic matter content which changes moisture

readings. This is especially true when you are checking a one-inch increment zone in

the soil profile as compared to a composite moisture reading of the entire profile. By

allowing moisture to be measured at one-inch increments allows you to localize moisture

readings in the rootzone to produce the best environment for growing healthy turf.

If readings over 100% occur, follow the recalibration technique on page 5 until the

highest number is 100% on the property you will be checking. Turfgrass areas with low

organic matter now may read a lower range for that area when saturated so a repeat of

step # 2-5 on page # 5 and record the “Saturated” and “Dry” readings for that turfgrass

area. Once you become accustomed to the read-out range for that particular turfgrass

area, watering to the midpoint of the “Saturated” and “Dry” numbers will allow the perfect

balance of water and air to be in the rootzone, producing the best environment for

growing turf.