Old Reviews Ph pen/meter advice please.

[rdeaton]

I calibrate with 4,7 and 10

 

[bam-bam]

can any one tell me cheap and good ph and ec pen

 

[bam-bam]

I am in UK

 

[namvet25]

I calibrate with 4,7 and 10

Read the preveous posts.

 

[bam-bam]

I was looking for cheap one mate, I just spend load money on my grow.
I was looking at this on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PH-Meter-...arden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item5ad3bb14f5

I very new to growing and bit thick. LOL

 

[Muddy]

IMO a pH pen is something you don't want to cheap out on. A good one, when properly cleaned, calibrated and maintained, will last for years. This is what I, and many others here, are using: http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hanna-grochek-combo-phectdstemp-tester-p-437.html. Besides measuring pH, it also measures EC/TDS and PPM, all with automatic temperature compensation. I find the PPM reading very useful as a way to check and track the level of nutrients being fed. It is also useful for checking your water source. If you are planning on using Advanced Nutrient pH Perfect nutrients, then knowing your starting PPM is a must. Their products will not work with a PPM higher than 120. Automatic temperature compensation is also very important. If your meter doesn't have it, then you must manually compensate for it or you won't be getting true readings. This chart illustrates that:



A neutral pH of 7 can only be achieved at 77 degrees F. As the temperature decreases the pH rises, and when the temperature goes up, the actual pH falls.

 

[bam-bam]

thanks muddy.

 

[thud]

What is the point of getting such a good one? The only way to test soil ph accurately is to prepare a sample of earth (a long process) and make up a solution. Measuring ph in and run off will only give a very approximate guess at what the soils true ph is. Not really any better than using a cheap stick in soil tester.

 

[Mr Piggy]

Sorry Thud, that is wrong. I have an Accurate 8 soil probe ph meter and it works dandy. Measuring run off is not an inaccurate way to judge PH.

 

[Muddy]

As Piggy pointed out, you also need a good soil probe to get an accurate soil reading. The best for that is the Control Wizard Accurate 8, available for about $60. A good liquid tester like the one I linked in post #16 will give you accuracy for mixing your nutrients, checking their strength and for base water testing. Most cheap ones only check pH and many do not have automatic temperature compensation. Checking run off does give a fairly accurate reading but certainly not as good as using a soil probe.

What is the point of getting such a good one? The only way to test soil ph accurately is to prepare a sample of earth (a long process) and make up a solution. Measuring ph in and run off will only give a very approximate guess at what the soils true ph is. Not really any better than using a cheap stick in soil tester.