Drip and fertigation
Every fertigation adds salts, and drip never washes the whole root zone. EC shows when a block needs a leaching run before the crop shows stress.
Soil Sensors Kenya Soil EC sensor
Soil EC sensors for Kenyan farms
The EC version reads electrical conductivity next to soil moisture and soil temperature, so you can see salts building up in the root zone under drip, fertigation or borehole water.
The reading
What a soil EC sensor tells you
Electrical conductivity rises with the salts dissolved in the soil water. Those salts come from fertiliser and from the irrigation water itself, and under drip they stay behind when the water evaporates. The EC version of the NuaSense soil sensor reads EC next to soil moisture and soil temperature, about every 10 minutes.
A single EC number says little, because it moves with moisture and temperature too. The trend is what counts: EC that climbs between irrigations means salt is building up in the root zone, and EC that falls after a heavy irrigation shows the leaching worked (soil EC under drip: why one reading misses the salinity).
What happens inside the sensor, and where the readings mislead you, is explained in what an EC sensor really measures in your greenhouse.
Where it pays off
Where an EC sensor earns its place
Borehole and river water
Salty irrigation water loads the field a little with every run. Test the water, then let the sensor show what it does to your soil: is your borehole water salting the field?
Greenhouse beds
In soil greenhouses, chasing zero drainage builds salt up in the bed. Read EC together with what comes out at the drain: what to measure in the drain water of a soil greenhouse.
What EC does not tell you
EC is the total salt load and does not split into nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. For a fertiliser plan you need a lab test of your soil (why a pH meter and the lab disagree).
Prices
What it costs
The EC version costs KES 10,000 excluding taxes. Blocks where salt is not a risk can use the moisture sensor instead; all sensors come online through a NuaSense weather station.
| What you buy | What it reads | Price, excl. taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Soil sensor, one depth | Soil moisture and soil temperature | KES 7,000 |
| Soil sensor, two depths | Two moisture and two temperature channels, a shallow and a deeper reading | KES 9,000 |
| Soil sensor with EC | Adds electrical conductivity, the salt load of the soil water | KES 10,000 |
| NuaSense weather station Required | Rain, wind, air temperature, humidity, air pressure and sunlight. It also brings the soil sensors online. | KES 30,000 |
Running costs: Safaricom data at cost, typically about one US dollar per station per month (none on Wi-Fi); the dashboard is included with five direct downloads a day; SMS and WhatsApp alerts cost 0.03 US dollars per message. You pay one month after the station is installed and transmitting, with 100 percent money back within the first three months. All prices and terms.
Questions
Questions about this sensor
What does a high EC reading mean?
That more salts are dissolved in the soil water, from fertiliser or from the irrigation water itself. Read it as a trend: EC that keeps rising between irrigations says the salts are building up and a leaching run is due.
Does an EC sensor measure nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium?
No. EC is the total salt load of the soil water and does not split into nutrients. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and pH come from a lab test of your soil.
Do I need EC on every block?
No. EC pays off where salt is a risk: drip and fertigation, greenhouses, and blocks watered from a borehole or river with salty water. Elsewhere a moisture sensor at KES 7,000 is enough.
Ask what a setup on your farm would look like
Tell us your crop, your water source and how you fertilise. We reply with where EC makes sense on your farm and the price.