I live in Melbourne and the average temp is 30 degrees ( gets up to 39 and 40) so I’m not sure how much I should water it... it’s a Satsuki Azalea

A dry azalea is a dead azalea. It will be very dry in Melbourne this time of year, normally. I would water at least once a day.
Do you know the chopstick method to test whether the soil is too dry? Especially good if you are new.

I am curious about the chopstick method. I bought a soil meter, that measures (dry, moist, wet) (dark, light) and (alkalinity) for like $20, not sure how good it is though.

BentoSalesBoy wrote: I am curious about the chopstick method. I bought a soil meter, that measures (dry, moist, wet) (dark, light) and (alkalinity) for like $20, not sure how good it is though.

These things need to be well calibrated and need to be calibrated for your pot, nutrient content etc. They normally measure conductivity, which is a funcion of water content and ion concentration, as fas as I know..

Chopstick: Stick it in the pot. Leave it there. When you wonder whether it needs watering you take the stick out and you can tell how deep the soil is dry.

I personally have my trees in coarse substrate and just water on a schedule, adjusted for hot weather / dry weather / wet weather. In summer, twice a day for water lovers, once a day for most conifers, skip a day for pines. In spring and falll once a day or every other day.

Plants inside every 2-3 days.