organics and PH

Go to home depot and they have a 7$ meter there it tests for ph and moisture. Runoff, just water till they drain out the bottom and collcet that water and then test. Home depot also has some pool/spa test strips you can buy those real cheap too.

I wonder what stealth hydor puts in their ph up and down. I got a ton of that from my old dwc kit.

Should I taste it. I'll get back to you guys.

haze2 said:

Go to home depot and they have a 7$ meter there it tests for ph and moisture. Runoff, just water till they drain out the bottom and collcet that water and then test. Home depot also has some pool/spa test strips you can buy those real cheap too.

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i have one of those cheapo meters and it doesn't work at all. but i am interested in the test strips. do you have personal experience with them? i am hesitant to buy strips since i purchased some from my local grow shop and they don't change color AT ALL.

Yes I used the test strips for the first 2 monts of my grow and they were rite on each time, Iwould recommend them if your on a budget. No goto home depot and ge tere strips for the pool. Thats funny you sau tat I bought the strips from my shop too and they didnt change at all either lol. Fuckin Conspiracy.

StonerFishy said:

what should the PH be at for a DWC system anyways? i cant get a straight answer

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StonerFishy.... The pH range for DWC is 5.2 to 5.8, 5.5 is optimal.
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Don't worry about making adjustments until your at 5 or above 6.
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I speak from experience, my first hydro setup back in the 80's was DWC in 5 gallon buckets. Don't worry about keeping pH dead on, put it on 5.5 or 5.6 and let it be for at least 3 or 4 days. If it goes under or above, dial it back in, then 4 or 5 days later - Dump, Flush, Reload - Dail In & wait another 3 or 4 days. Repeat, this cycle, dumping every 8 to 10 days - and your plants will be at their best - health & yield wise......
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Hope this helps....
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Signed..OSG (ex-chem-hydro-dude)......
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Hey all, there are plenty of hydro stores & swimming pool supply places that sell the cheap (but pretty decent) litmus paper strips for testing pH. I pick them up locally at a swimming pool / hot tub place. A small vial of them, with 200 strips is $ 4
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Not as accurate as a top end pH meter, but very cheap & easy to use.
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To measure TDS (total disolved solids) you can pick up a TDS meter on Ebay for about $ 17 delivered. The guys Ebay name is H20 Science. I got one a while back and it works pretty decent. At the end of the year, I'll just toss it and buy another one. I don't expect it to last beyond that.
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Doing that is cheaper than replacing probes on my Milwaukee TDS meter, since they run $ 48 a pop. A TDS meter is a nice thing to have, but not a must for soil growing. If you hydro, you must have one.
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Hope this helps....
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Indeed ohsogreen.