So you are assuming your pH pen is reading 5.5 while the actual pH is 7? Then you go on to trust the other readings as you adjust? Just trying to make sense of this...Not sure where I read it but it was called a 2-1 soil ph test and works like this.
I use distilled water that reads 5.5 on my cheap ph pen.
Take a container (in my case a shot glass) of soil.
Take 2 containers of distilled water and mix it with the soil.
Let it sit a half hour or so and strain it through a coffee filter.
Take your ph tester and read the filtered water.
With 5.5 being my starting point I look if it's higher or lower then 5.5 and adjust the soil or water to correct the problem if any.
The pen is calibrated b4 the tests begin.So you are assuming your pH pen is reading 5.5 while the actual pH is 7? Then you go on to trust the other readings as you adjust? Just trying to make sense of this...