what is a good meter to check water and nutrient pH?

[steveo2grow]

i have a rapitest soil ph meter that i've been sticking in my water to check the pH before watering. somehow i think i'm way wrong for doing that. it does work when i use the ph up or ph down, but i wonder if anyone else uses soil ph meter's to test their water. if not, what do you use????

 

[dankshizzle]

a ph meter for hydro. hanna instruments have a whole line of them. and ppm is tds so you want a tds and ph tester

 

[solarguy]

just make sure you are testing the water before you put it in, 6.3-6.8 for soil....then test the runoff or you can stick the meter in the actual soil.....depends on what type of tester you got.

The expensive ones 70-130.00 for the digital pens i believe are the best...pricey but well worth it when you have a slot to water! easy to calibrate and will last a long long time if taken care of!

 

[steveo2grow]

another question that i can't seem to find an answer to. when i adjust my ph level in my water/nutrient mixture i'm at 6.5.... then i water my plants.... test the run off which is 6.5, but when i stick my meter in the soil the damn thing is 7.0.... what the hell???? do i water with ph 6.0 to get my soil to 6.5 then????

 

[solarguy]

you could but i wouldn't. Its hard to get an accurate reading with soil meters ive heard by just sticking it in soil, if your going in at 6.5 and run off is 6.5 your fine....dont stress...

 

[Wetdog]

i have a rapitest soil ph meter that i've been sticking in my water to check the pH before watering. somehow i think i'm way wrong for doing that. it does work when i use the ph up or ph down, but i wonder if anyone else uses soil ph meter's to test their water. if not, what do you use????

Throw that rapidtest meter away. They won't work in water and seldom work in soil. They really are useless and totally inaccurate.

At least, get a Milwaukee 600 off ebay for ~$20, if not something better, but that one will do.

Wet