Soil Moisture Sensor Mod

Hello I recently purchased some inexpensive soil moisture sensors that each consist of two, main pieces of hardware: 1) a two-tined fork-shaped soil moisture sensor that is planted into the soil (each one has two wires going to it and is simply a fork-shaped PCB board with relatively large, uninsulated foil runs) and they simply have a voltage applied when a measurement is taken ; and 2) a small PCB board that has a potentiometer and a comparator on-board and the pot sets the point at which the digital output goes high or low, depending on the soil wetness.

I have heard that the sensor that goes into the soil is prone to rusting and degradation that requires attention. I was wondering what the thinking is if I replace the soil sensor with a simple, homemade "likeness" of the sensor in the form of two, stainless-steel machine screws fashioned into the original shape. I know that the intrinsic resistance would be different but that could probably be handled by the potentiometer.

I am just trying to anticipate any problems wih this before going large-scale and any opinions/advice are appreciated.

Hi,
I know people have replaced that PCB section with two stainless steel "Skewers" from the grocery store, used to cook meat etc.

All it does is measure the electrical resistance of the soil, so sure, you can use some other probes if you like.

They are prone to rusting if you leave them powered for long time, so make sure you disconnect the power supply (connect both sides to GND or to a pin set to INPUT) except when taking a reading.