The present invention relates to a
sensing system (10) for monitoring a substrate (1), comprising a sensing unit (4) with first and second sensing elements (3A, 3B) configured to be inserted into the substrate (1); a
signal generation unit (5) configured to apply an electrical
signal to the sensing elements; a readout unit (6) configured to determine at least one electrical parameter as a result of the electrical
signal being applied to the sensing elements (3A, 3B); and a
processing unit (7) configured to determine at least an amount of water inside the substrate (1) among an amount of water in the substrate (1) and a
nutrient concentration in the substrate (1), based on the determined at least one electrical parameter and an
electrical model of a combination of the sensing elements (3A, 3B) and the substrate (1) in which they are inserted, wherein the
electrical model comprises a first
inductor modelling a first
inductance (Lp1) of the first sensing element (3A) and a second
inductor modelling a second
inductance (Lp2) of the second sensing element (3B); a
capacitor modelling a
capacitance (Cp) between the sensing elements (3A, 3B); a
resistor modelling a conductance (Gp) between the sensing elements (3A, 3B); wherein the first
inductance (Lp 1) is modelled as a known first function of the amount of water inside the substrate (1), wherein the second inductance (Lp2) is modelled as a known second function of the amount of water inside the substrate (1), wherein the
capacitance (Cp) is modelled as a known third function of the amount of water inside the substrate (1), and wherein the conductance (Gp) is modelled as a known fourth function of the amount of water inside the substrate (1) and an amount of mobile ions representing the amount of nutrients inside the substrate (1).