It’s August, and once again my lawn looks like it’s on life support. Despite pouring money into mowing, chemical treatments, fungicides, fall aeration and overseeding, and installing a top-tier WiFi-enabled Hydrawise system with 8 zones for deep watering twice a week, the grass still yellows out.
After nearly a year of anticipation, I finally received my GeoDrop this week, hoping it’ll shed light on what’s really going on beneath the surface. The early readings are intriguing but a bit puzzling: surface moisture appears very low, while deep moisture is surprisingly high (latest readings after watering just 2 days ago: are 21% at 1..5”, 57% at 2.5”, and 77% at 3.5”). In the past, I’d instinctively increase watering when I see lawn yellowing, figuring heat stress but now I’m wondering if I’ve been overdoing it.
What I really need is actionable guidance based on these GeoDrop readings—whether that means watering more or less, amending with topsoil, or something else entirely. And if there’s any way to integrate GeoDrop wirelessly with my Hydrawise system to automatically adjust watering for moisture and temperature levels, that would be a game-changer.
In terms of the readings, it will take time for the soil to settle enough to get reliable readings and prediction. The deep moisture should indeed be higher than the shallow readings (the installation prompts on the app say it can take up to 2 weeks for the soil to sufficiently settle). Sometimes overwatering can also lead to yellowing due to root rot. Given the timing of the installation, I believe it’s likely too early to perform a deep water calibration after a watering event (rain or watering cycle).
I’ll let the engineering team to answer the recommendation behavior. From what I know, we provide recommendation of watering more or less (or specifically when to water, and how much based on the past soil moisture profile and upcoming weather forecast).
It looks like the unit is starting to stabilize—moisture levels have dropped significantly since installation on 8/5. Currently, it’s reading:
6% moisture at 1.5 in
21% moisture at 2.5 in
46% moisture at 3.5 in
From what I’ve gathered, ideal soil moisture for healthy turf typically falls in the 20–30% range, though I’m not entirely sure how accurate that is—I’m no expert. That said, the 2.5 in depth is within that range, and 3.5 in is well above it. Interestingly, the GeoDrop app still labels 46% at 3.5 in as “dry,” which seems counterintuitive.
Could you clarify the optimal moisture ranges for each depth? I’d like to fine-tune the irrigation settings accordingly. Really appreciate your guidance—thanks again.
While we will publish a more detailed guide soon, this is what ChatGPT came up with when I entered your situation (I personally can’t say I’m a lawn expert myself).
Interpretation & Recommendation:
For cool-season turf (like fescue, bluegrass, rye) in summer:
Shallow root zone (1–1.5"): 15–25% is generally healthy. Below ~10% is drought stress territory.
Mid root zone (2–2.5"): 20–30% is good. Below ~15% risks stress.
Deep root zone (3–3.5"): 25–35% is usually sufficient. Above ~40% can mean saturation, which risks fungus/mushrooms.
Your readings show:
Shallow layer is too dry (6% is well below healthy range) → grass blades are stressed even though deep soil is wet.
Deep layer is too wet (46% is above optimal) → possible overwatering, poor drainage, or compacted soil preventing upward moisture movement.
Action plan:
Shift watering to shorter, more frequent cycles to keep the top 1–2" moist without oversaturating deep soil.
Consider aeration or topdressing with compost to improve water infiltration and capillary rise.
If possible, use GeoDrop to trigger watering when 1.5" depth drops below ~15%, rather than on a fixed schedule.
I have been monitoring my soil readings frequently over the past two months, but it has been challenging as we have had a decent amount of rain in the Northeast. In general, my soil readings have indicated that my soil has been moist. The appearance of the Tall Type Fescue aligns with the readings largely. We are entering a two week period of no rain up here so I have been tracking the levels to get a better sense of whether the sensor is functioning. I am starting to question the results. My watering events seem to be inaccurate. I have watering events indicated when there hasn’t been any rain or irrigation. I do not have water events when I irrigate however. Sometimes I have them when it rains. I did a deep watering yesterday. One 30 minute session in the morning and a 45 minute session in the evening and it didn’t appear to alter my levels at all. In fact, they declined. I snapped a picture of my readings before the irrigation event, and six hours after the 45 minute watering and it shows that my 1” reading has declined. Has anybody else noticed this type of behavior?
I’ve taken a look at your sensor readings, and looks like AI is still learning about your soil – so, the sensor readings are “not yet” accurate. As mentioned in the install guide, it can take up to 2 weeks for natural soil to properly settle and for the device to start producing (very) accurate readings.
Also, the “watering event” you mentioned in the graph is actually a tiny rain event, as reported by the National Weather Service (NWS) run and maintained by the government.
For the next step: Please wait for AI to suggest whether/when it think the soil is settled enough to perform its first in-soil calibration. And then let us know how it looks after it’s properly calibrated?
Thanks,
Lawrence
ps - I’ve flagged @homedigy-leon to help look into this further as well. I think it’s an oversight (ie, a graphics design bug) in our App that we only have this “sensor reading inaccurate” message shown in detailed/advanced graph screen, and it’s NOT clear enough on the device summary screen as you’ve shown:
We’ve been so focused on delivering the underlying software features up until now, so we’re a bit behind on making sure all the sensor details on the technical/graph screen are properly reflected on the pretty summary picture screen as you have shown. It may take us 1-2 more software releases for the graphics to catch up with all the advanced AI features during Soft Launch. Please help bear with us a bit longer. Thanks!
My apologies for the confusion. It appears Lawrence was inadvertently looking at the device chart for MarkR. He will review your device’s data next and we will follow up with you as soon as he has a chance.
Thank you for the note Leon. It is good to know what the watering events are indicating. I was concerned that there was something amiss with the sensor. I will say that the watering events on the graph currently do not reflect what actually happened. It sounds like there might be some future releases which will provide more accuracy. My concern, at the moment, is that the moisture level doesn’t seem to increase when I water the lawn. This may be accurate, but I would think that watering for 45 minutes on a single zone where the sensor is located, would increase the moisture reading at a depth of 1”. So far, it hasn’t.
I just checked your device. Yes, you’re right that the watering detection seems incorrect for the one between Aug 6-7 (UTC). The others are hard for me to tell manually (AI seems to think they are watering events, but I’m not so sure). Can you help us by using the thumbs-down button in the App to flag any of these as mis-detections for our system?
Next, in terms of moisture, it looks like the deeper soil is actually loose. We’re in the middle of writing an improved algorithm to better guide users when there’s a chance of loose soil. I’m also thinking of recording another video to better explain how soil sensor contacts work. It looks like a lot of “inaccurate sensor readings” in this Community forum got resolved once people have larned how important it is to ensure these soil sensors need to be carefully installed to ensure maximum soil contact and minimum soil disturbance.
Below is screenshot from our internal dashboard showing what it looks like for your device:
Can you let us know when you actually watered near the device for 45min as you suggested? I have a suspicion that we may need to reinstall the device due to insufficient sturdy soil contact (ie, the soil is too loose).
Thank you for looking into this. The 45 minute irrigation session was on 8/11. I have another one kicking off this morning so we can look at that as well in a few hours. I believe there is a three hour lag on the UI updating? We should see results by noon EST today.
Good afternoon Stanley,
I have had two irrigation sessions that have not registered on the device. One on 8/16 and one on 8/13. Based on duration, I would have expected some movement in the 1” reading, but nothing registered. I did saturate the unit with a hose yesterday to test it and that did register. Again, it is possible that I am not watering enough to register with the unit, but that is the question I am hoping to answer with the device - at what moisture level should I water and how long to water in order to get moisture 2” and below. I don’t feel like I am there yet with the device.
I just had a chance to look at your device. You should be able to see this same image in your App’s “2-week” moisture history view. See screenshot below:
So your guess is exactly right! At this particular location, you definitely NOT watering enough. There are two possible things to do from here: (1) either check if you need to run your watering schedule longer, or (2) check if your sprinkler system sprays water very unevenly across your lawn.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell which is which based on a single sensor reading alone. To figure out whether your irrigation waters evenly, you can either:
Install 2x GeoDrops sensors across a large lawn (put one in a spot that is greener, and then put another where your lawn is struggling and you’d like to see wet). Check the difference in moisture reading.
Or, try a “water catch test”. Place multiple (3 or 4) bowls or dishes of the same size with a relatively shallow height, at places you’d like to check across your lawn, run your sprinkler system like you normally do for 10-15min, and see how much water is collected in each. If the amount of water differs only 2x between the one with the most and least water catched, then your irrigation system is pretty good. If the different is something like 5x or more, then you have an uneven irrigation system.
If you have an uneven irrigation system, you may need to figure out how to water the drier part of your lawn more without overwatering that part that’s already receiving enough water.
And if your irrigation system waters pretty evenly, then please simply water longer! Your plants will appreciate the extra water.
