Help needed, looking for a PH Tester that won't break the bank
- Thread starter Raskalius
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walmart has a large variety
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I use BlueLab. Aspera makes some good units but it's been hit or miss on accuracy and ability to stay calibrated in my experience. This is one piece of equipment I wouldn't skimp on, especially if you are running hydro or coco. BlueLab is good and durable but will stray out of calibration fairly quickly after about 8 months of use. Whatever you buy, calibrate weekly. IMHO, YMMV, etc.
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Checker Plus pH Checker - HI98100 | Hanna Instruments
Hanna Instruments HI98100 Checker Plus pH tester features a large LCD display and single button operation to streamline the testing process for any user.
www.hannainst.com
I use the Milwaukee Instruments pH600aq pen.
It's held up well for about 18months of daily use now. It's around $20-25 and can be bought direct or off of Amazon. Mine did have a break in period where it needed to be calibrated once/twice a week but holds very well after that. I check at least once every two weeks and every time I start a new grow. It is usually spot on or just off by 0.1 occasionally.
No matter what you go with, budget for calibration fluid and storage solution. Make sure the unit can be calibrated.
milwaukeeinstruments.com
It's held up well for about 18months of daily use now. It's around $20-25 and can be bought direct or off of Amazon. Mine did have a break in period where it needed to be calibrated once/twice a week but holds very well after that. I check at least once every two weeks and every time I start a new grow. It is usually spot on or just off by 0.1 occasionally.
No matter what you go with, budget for calibration fluid and storage solution. Make sure the unit can be calibrated.
Milwaukee pH600AQ Digital pH Pen
The Milwaukee Instruments compact pH pen tester is often used to help maintain pools and aquariums as well as improve results for growers and quality in a range of food and beverage uses.
milwaukeeinstruments.com
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I went cheap initially, it died after a week, and then I went to an Apera PH 60. It has now done about two and a half years of use (not all year), and it is still in close enough calibration for me. (still within ~.02 or so). The PH60 has a replaceable probe which costs not a lot more than one of the cheap units.
Good luck with your choice, but I recommend going with Apera or Bluelab. You can go cheap on the EC/PPM pen, but not the pH meter. Measuring pH is far more difficult, so decent meters cost more.
Good luck with your choice, but I recommend going with Apera or Bluelab. You can go cheap on the EC/PPM pen, but not the pH meter. Measuring pH is far more difficult, so decent meters cost more.
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I went through 8 cheap PH pens before I decided to finally get one that was worth it~ I got the BLueLab PH and PPM pens.
Should have just gotten them in the beginning and saved frustration AND money...and it would have saved a few plants too!
Should have just gotten them in the beginning and saved frustration AND money...and it would have saved a few plants too!
As someone who has used Hanna in the breeding of fish and propagating of corals for decades, they make top notch stuff. There are some dogs in their checker lineup, but very few... However, with what we do there is not as much interference as there is with aquarium water and marine water. So, with cannabis you can get away with some of the $15-$20 meters as long as you calibrate with good solution every now and then. I stick my cheap meter in marine tank and freshwater tank and if it's reading 6.4 and 8.1 I know I'm damn close to dead on. I must say, I'm loving how much I know from propagating Acropora corals for decades transfers over to growing cannabis. Getting into cannabis and knowing all about light spectrum, PPFD, DLI, redfield ratios, how 17 elements work in ratios to form life, already has made cannabis like growing, well, weeds...
Also, a step up from the hanna would be a monitor with a probe, there are several brands in the $100-$150 range that are good as long as you have a quality probe. Milwaukee is the lowest level I'd go. Bulk reef supply is a good source for PH and Hanna meters, and great customer service. If you watch their videos I suspect they're at least consumers...
so they may be able to help with the odd PH meter question. I have a computer monitoring system that I was an old model I wasn't using any my aquariums anymore that I can use to monitor PH at several sites, temp at several sites, TDS real time, track and graph the fluctuations. I assume serious growers do this with more cannabis focused equipment, I'm just not sure who it is. Anyone? @Vendors @modsI absolutely love cannabis by comparison to corals, so much lower stress and so fewer things to monitor and consider. I can only describe coral farming/propagating on a high level as psycho gardening. High level reefkeeping is that squared due to all the inputs and other organisms to consider. With cannabis there's enough complexity to keep me learning, but not so much complexity that I will always have to worry about high levels of loss because one measurement is off for a short period of time. Any other aquarium nerds out there? How about #aquaponics folks? That's my next exploration...
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