ph meter?

[stantunes]

I am looking for some advice on what i should use to check the pH of the water I am feeding my plants. What do you guys use? How much am I looking at spending for something that is of worth?

 

[Guest 263194]

plz get a good ph meter for me.. def worth it man I would spend more then 100 bucks on it.

 

[pinecone]

I bought a Milwaukee pH meter many years ago. It still works, but I no longer use it. For me, it was a waste of money, but it can be indispensable depending on your water and nutrients. If you are using synthetic fertilizers it may be the case that adding the fertilizer to your water gets it down to the correct range, and many organic growers don't bother with pH.

What are you using now and how is it working?

Pine

 

[McGuyver'sDick]

IMO its nice to have a backup like paper test strips or liquid drops, if your batteries fail or you get a meter wet or it possibly malfunctions. You may get as many opinions on meters as there are meters. Just make sure you get ALL of the required calibration solutions and you store it well.

 

[stantunes]

i just let my water sit a few days before i use it and i am using, Fox Farm Ocean Forest, and General Organics GoBox, I'm only 3 weeks in to the grow.
As of right now I am using:
BioRoot
CaMag+
and BioMarine

and 52w of CFL (soon to be 104w) 6400k bulbs and 5000k bulbs on 3 plants. not a very big area to grow in. everything seems to be just growing fine.

thanks pinecone, i really like your grows btw

and im charging my camera so i can take me some pictures

 

[BigDawg]

Milwaukee pH55 if you want a good meter for $50 - automatic calibration and built in water temperature monitor.

 

[pinecone]

As of right now I am using:
BioRoot
CaMag+
and BioMarine

When I used to use Ocean Forest I found that no fertilization was required in veg as long as I kept the plants in sufficiently sized pots (i.e. with enough soil). That you feel the need to use three products only three weeks into your grow is a bit surprising. Sometimes less is more.

Pine

 

[rives]

BlueLab is the best one that I have used. I thought it was too expensive to start with, and it would have been far more economical if I had avoided the cheap shit first!

 

[orange juice]

I used the milwakee pH 600 for 2 years and it cost $20. It only failed because I washed it upside down in the sink and got water into the electronics which was my own fault. I replaced it with the same one since they work so well. I check the calibration every couple of weeks and they never need adjusting, always right on. If it breaks it's cheaper to replace than just a probe for the more expensive ones. Most people that have issues with the "cheap" ones either got a faulty unit or don't take care of it correctly. All you need to do is rinse the probe off after each use and put like 1ml of pH 7 calibration solution inside the cap to keep the probe wet and they last years and stay accurate.

 

[MainelyOrganics]

This thread isn't all that new, but I thought I'd share some info.

I purchased a tri meter and I love the thing. Spot on every time. Been using it for quite a while and haven't had to calibrate it yet. Spent around 200 on it I think. Entire thing is also water proof. If you wanna know ur ph...ppms....and temp all in one shot go with this. Well worth the money Imo.

I also test with drops every time as well. Got some by Gh....5 something at the hydro store. If you're tight on cash pick up some drops. Super easy and cheap.

 

[Grizz]

watch out on the tri meter, make sure you clean it as directed, also i never trust 1 meter, i keep two on hand just to make sure they are reading right

 

[overbudjet]