Calibrate your EC meters!

Electrical conductivity (EC) meters are indispensable and easy-to-use tools for monitoring soil salinity. But if they aren't maintained properly, they can give you bad information. Broken meters frequently show values below 1.0, deluding superintendents into believing that everything is fine, when in fact it isn't. Sometimes, the meter's read out just drifts over time, once again providing misleading readings.

Whatever the problem, the solution is fast and easy — calibrate! We suggest that you do this about once a month…