Recommended PH test?

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chico1st

Active Member
Hi everyone, I am looking for a new ph tester.
I have PH test strips and I don't enjoy matching the colors up. They never feel color contrasted enough to really know what's going on.
I tried a cheap PH pen and it was all over the place with it's readings, I tossed it and have been scared of digital meters ever since.

Does anyone have a recommendation for what to use? I like the idea of PH test drops because they are likely consistent and maybe give more contrast than test strips?
There are also hundreds of digital meters, I'm happy to buy a decent one but I don't want something that will need calibrations every week or won't give good data. :(
Every pen seems to have bad reviews...but I figure there are some stupid people around causing the issues more than stupid pens.
 
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chico1st

Active Member
oh yeah that does look awesome! For some stupid reason it's 200$ in Canada though :(
Forex isn't great but it's not THAT bad :P
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
chico1st said:
oh yeah that does look awesome! For some stupid reason it's 200$ in Canada though :(
Forex isn't great but it's not THAT bad :P
Click to expand...
There are a couple made by apera

Apera Instruments AI311 Premium Series PH60 Waterproof pH Pocket Tester Kit, Replaceable Probe, ±0.01 pH Accuracy: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Apera Instruments AI311 Premium Series PH60 Waterproof pH Pocket Tester Kit, Replaceable Probe, ±0.01 pH Accuracy: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
www.amazon.com

Otherwise blue labs

 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
The SX610 Should do you just fine. +- .1 is pretty close. I was going to get that but it was only 15$ more for the .01 and that was 2 day shipping the .1 was a 3 week backorder. As long as you keep a few drops of storage solution in the cap it should last just about forever.
 
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Federucci

Well-Known Member
I like Apera Instruments. I picked up a PH60S for soil with the liquid probe add on and I can say it's the best I've used. Crucial thanks to Renfro's post for this.
 
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JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Federucci said:
Why man? I was thinking of trying the Bluelabs if this one craps the bed. I have no experience with the blue labs though.
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Blue lab is only accurate to .1 and if you want to ph water with it, it takes like 60 seconds to get an accurate reading. I only use it a couple times per grow anyway and my soil is almost always perfect.
 
MickFoster

MickFoster

Well-Known Member
I've been using the drops for over 25 years.......the drops are never wrong and need no calibration to stay accurate.
 
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Federucci

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
Blue lab is only accurate to .1 and if you want to ph water with it, it takes like 60 seconds to get an accurate reading. I only use it a couple times per grow anyway and my soil is almost always perfect.
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When using the "mushy media" probe, it takes about the same time to get a reading in water, so I'll see how the liquid specific probe works. What I learned is that you don't want to use the three point calibration, just the 4 and 7 since that is where you want to be. Seems to be more accurate more quickly.

Also to OP, are you looking for a media tester or a liquid tester? It seems like liquid but I'm not sure.

On another note, I was using RO water at about 6.7ish and was surprised that the pH got to 8 after brewing some compost tea, but I tried it out and there seem to be no ill effects. Mr. Drysift was right about organics.
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Federucci said:
When using the "mushy media" probe, it takes about the same time to get a reading in water, so I'll see how the liquid specific probe works. What I learned is that you don't want to use the three point calibration, just the 4 and 7 since that is where you want to be. Seems to be more accurate more quickly.

Also to OP, are you looking for a media tester or a liquid tester? It seems like liquid but I'm not sure.

On another note, I was using RO water at about 6.7ish and was surprised that the pH got to 8 after brewing some compost tea, but I tried it out and there seem to be no ill effects. Mr. Drysift was right about organics.
Click to expand...
The liquid specific give you a reading in about 3 seconds.
 
C

chico1st

Active Member
MickFoster said:
I've been using the drops for over 25 years.......the drops are never wrong and need no calibration to stay accurate.
Click to expand...
Do you feel like you can be accurate enough? I have little test strips and I always fee like I'm +-1 on my PH measurements :( Like the room lighting and background likely shift my 'color' by 1-2 PH.

Federucci said:
Also to OP, are you looking for a media tester or a liquid tester? It seems like liquid but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
So I grow everything in soil and I was always taught to just test runoff vs input. Whether that is right? I don't know. I don't like my strips at the very least. :P
Also the Apera soil testing probe is 130$ more (even just for the replacement probe). I don't mind the money so much as figure I at least need the liquid tester.
 
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2Hearts

2Hearts

Well-Known Member
Serious guys, if you run soil you dont need a ph meter and are in a very small group of canna growers who think different to the rest of the world.
 
MickFoster

MickFoster

Well-Known Member
chico1st said:
Do you feel like you can be accurate enough? I have little test strips and I always fee like I'm +-1 on my PH measurements :( Like the room lighting and background likely shift my 'color' by 1-2 PH.
Click to expand...
Apparently it's accurate enough because I've had no problems in 25 years.
All you have to do is make sure it's piss yellow.
This might be helpful.
pH%20color%20scale.jpg
 
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