Ph meters, lets talk about it!

[stickygreen420]

I'd like to start by discussing Cheap ph meters, people say a lot of bad stuff about cheap ph meters ( i have the yellow one thats sold everywhere and goes for around 15 usd)

People say they're inaccurate, but I've had mine for 1/2 years, and it's always been accurate with monthly calibration.

Is it the most precise? No, but do we need accuracy within 0.1 for most growers? No, and the margin of error is around 0.1 on mine


Now, i wanna ask something to the experts, everywhere on the internet i read that the probe is usually done for after a year or 2.

Yet mine is still working without problems, and it's a cheap ass meter... My hydroshop guy told me that probes don't actually need to be changed every year, so a bit of conflict info there .... What do you guys think?

 

[Roy Growin]

Hello @stickygreen420
Yeah, mine is a cheapo Zon job which I only use as an indication
I pre-mix my pH down so that I know 5ml/L will shift my water from 7.4 to 6.0
If I am using KSilicate or Rhizotonic I just add an extra ml or two and every time I do check it is always 5.6-6.0
As for calibration, I just check it in milk, cola, wine etc - anything with a known pH
I'm really not bothered if it's a bit out so long as I know it's a bit high or a bit low, whatever

 

[BarnacleBill]

Well mine isn't cheap, its a blue lab. The accuracy is good despite that I do not recalibrate every month (manufacturer recommendation), maybe more like every six months? The biggest problem I have is that its slow, very slow. Probably taking over a minute or more to finally stabilize on a reading. I always have a chemical reaction kit on hand and always double check myself. Living in coastal locations and relying on well water here really sucks. Crazy hard water, off the chart iron content and a base reading of 8.3 pH! I will say, my laundry whites have never been brighter... despite that they look like they were eaten by a swarm of hungry moths. I have been using this pH pen for almost 3 years now, still marginally satisfied with it. I always double check my final readings with the chemical reaction kit. I basically use the pen as the mixing tool and back up the final reading with the chemical kit. If I am running anything other than a tea I let it rest for at least an hour after adjusting before double check. Also it has a hold button on it that locks a current reading on the screen. Why? Why would you possibly need this option? Its in a stupid location (top button) and I accidentally activate it frequently. This has caused huge problems in the past with me going nuts because I can't get the pH to drop and actually fried a plant or two before I realized what happened. All I can say is, frequently double check the accuracy. As long as your in the ballpark and your meter is consistent and you know your variance, sail on. Expensive doesn't always mean better...sometimes it just means overpriced.

 

[Icemud]

I use the pH drops that are like 8 bucks and I wouldn't ever go back to meters. I had 2 different meters over time, both required constant batteries, constant calibration (including buying new liquid) and it never seemed that I could trust the readings. I switched to the drops and will never go back to meters. Too expensive and I couldn't trust them.

 

[BarnacleBill]

I use the pH drops that are like 8 bucks and I wouldn't ever go back to meters. I had 2 different meters over time, both required constant batteries, constant calibration (including buying new liquid) and it never seemed that I could trust the readings. I switched to the drops and will never go back to meters. Too expensive and I couldn't trust them.

I feel your pain...lol. Like I said, I have had trouble with meters and I always double check at the end with a pH chemical kit. It's sience, sience doesn't lie!

 

[stickygreen420]

I use the pH drops that are like 8 bucks and I wouldn't ever go back to meters. I had 2 different meters over time, both required constant batteries, constant calibration (including buying new liquid) and it never seemed that I could trust the readings. I switched to the drops and will never go back to meters. Too expensive and I couldn't trust them.

I use drops to double check the meters reading, but i find the meter is much faster when im preparing a lot of water tanks

 

[Skunksta]

Drops me now.
But with tap water i kinda now know.
How much PH down to add to get were i need to be in coco.
If i use a new ph down product i will use a drops kit.
Kinda dont see the point in taking a meter reading.
Then also doing a drop test to check results.
Faster to just start with the drops test no?
But myself to much drama calibration after calibration.
Double checking etc but i dont have issues with water mine is a stable 7.2 to start.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I'm a BlueLab Fan. I wouldn't think of feeding my plants without using it to pH. I'm in soil & they say there's no need to pH. Yeah... Right ! When I don't I get issues. When I do pH I very seldom have a problem other then needing to add Cal-Mag. I personally don't trust the drops over the meter.

 

[stickygreen420]

Drops me now.
But with tap water i kinda now know.
How much PH down to add to get were i need to be in coco.
If i use a new ph down product i will use a drops kit.
Kinda dont see the point in taking a meter reading.
Then also doing a drop test to check results.
Faster to just start with the drops test no?
But myself to much drama calibration after calibration.
Double checking etc but i dont have issues with water mine is a stable 7.2 to start.

I prepare like 5-6 tanks at a time, so i just check ph with the meter on all tanks, and then check on a single tank with drops to make sure, saves a lot of time, especially when i need to make multiple mesures because im adding ph down, also the meter i can just put inside and let it mesure while im working on the other tanks

 

[stickygreen420]

I'm a BlueLab Fan. I wouldn't think of feeding my plants without using it to pH. I'm in soil & they say there's no need to pH. Yeah... Right ! When I don't I get issues. When I do pH I very seldom have a problem other then needing to add Cal-Mag. I personally don't trust the drops over the meter.

I mean, at the end of the day, in soil, 5.5-6.8. Is the range, so its not that hard to be in that range with the drops....

And even if you're slightly out, you're not always gonna be out the same way, so one time it might be 6.8, 5.6, 5.4, 6.9, 6.4 etc, so you're hitting all the ph range the plant need,


Also if i understand properly, as soil dries it returns to it's original ph, so if you water at 7ph, and ur soil is 6ph, as it dries it'll shift all the way to 6ph hitting all the nutrient spectrum