pH soil tester?

[The OrigF/clred]

does one exist that will give consistently accurate samplings?

i've been watching what my bud has gone thru adjusting or regulating the soil in his pots to where he wanted it - and it got so intense, the last three waterings / feedings, he'd water first till he got enough ru- off to take a pH on the run-off, then adjust his feed mix to the pH to suit (he's had an issue with low soil pH that has taken quite a bit of lime etc to bring it up to 6.5

it occurred to me it'd be a whole lot quicker if there was a soil tester that could tell him what the existing pH was, but the few reports i've seen in this forum on use of a soil tester, folks didn't seem happy with it's performance

is there a sensor or a way to monitor existing soil pH without having to run water thru to read what comes out?

 

[yujin]

I use this, a Control Wizard - Accurate pH 8 - Soil pH and Moisture Meter
It works great as long as you keep the probe very clean. You just stick it in the soil. There is no additional water needed. It also functions as a moisture meter if you need that sort of thing. It's funny because I think that if you even care to know what the pH of your soil is, I think you're going to know if you need to water. So the moisture part of this thing is pretty pointless in my opinion. But it seems like it does a good job and I've heard nothing but good things about it from other people. The one thing I do keep hearing is, keep it clean. It wasn't cheap at $50, despite the cheap plastics it does seem like its of a fairly decent quality. It will probably stand up to years of my light use. But maybe not so much if it's a common task in your garden.

 

[The OrigF/clred]

tks - curious, have you ever compared it's reading to a reading taken with a decent quality pH meter, like the HM series digital testers?

 

[oscarthegrouch]

bluelab makes a pretty decent soil ph meter. Expect to pay over $200 though

 

[groog]

bluelab ph soil tester is a good choice but a lot of growers find it quite expensive. another good ph soil tester worth considering is the direct soil reading tester that costs around $100-$110. it is the only direct reading soil tester available. To operate this tester, clean electrodes and place meter into the soil. then, a pH reading is automatically displayed. just press the green button and moisture reading is already displayed.

 

[supermanlives]

I had a kelway I think it was. wasn't cheap tho. haven't checked ph in a long time

 

[Sat X RB]

just as an aside to the question ...

did yr friend get the pH of his soil correct BEFORE he planted? low cost 'soil pH test kits' are available ($16 in this country). much easier to do this than the process you describe.

that's all I use before planting and except perhaps for once (slightly) during the grow it is not necessary to alter soil pH.

cheers from the Land of Oz!