Yellow PH pen = new way to try to kill plants

[OldPhart]

Ok, so I feel like a moron! I bought one of those stupid yellow PH pens, and it was kind of accurate, so I started using it, and not thinking about calibrating it regularly. Well Friday night I got a really high reading, which I didn't believe. So I stuck the meter into a cup of straight ro water, which I know runs about 7.4ish.... well it read like 11! So after fooling around with it for a bit with some calibration solution, I got it giving me numbers that were correct and repeatable. I stuck it in my rez, and it was reading 3.9!!! After about crapping myself, I dumped the rez, flushed with straight water, and mixed a fresh batch of nutes. Strange thing is, that only one of the 4 plants were really getting pissed off, so I just assumed that it was a 'bitchy' pheno. I had noticed that the buds had not really gained any new size in the last few weeks (Weeks 3-6), which I found strange. But after getting the PH up to where it should have been, I'm seeing new growth now, less than 48 hours later, maybe I will beat 1 oz per plant now; I was hoping to beat 2 oz/plant. I love hydro, and how fast you can fix issues, especially when you get super stupid.

Moral of the story, don't even screw around with the stupid yellow PH pens; just get some PH drops and be done with it, if you don't want to spring for a decent meter. I'm sure that stupid $14 pen cost me much more than that in weight, although these things are frosting up like crazy. ???

I really can't wait for this run to get over. I need to get back on my game, this is looking to be my worst run since going hydro back in the early 90's

 

[DemonTrich]

I went thru 10 in about 10 months when I started growing. Utter garbage. Love my HM ph pen. Going on 1yr and still perfect. I calibrate monthly.

 

[bsgospel]

Yep I've been boned by the same pen. Lesson learned- spend a couple bucks for quality or use a recipe which requires nothing.

 

[legalcanada]

do you mean the yellow ones you calibrate with the screw on the back??? i got one recently and have been using it to ph my water, have not calibrated it yet because don't have ro/distilled water and don't have ph drops/strips.... hope i'm ok...

 

[Loc Dog]

The only problem I had, was I calibrated it to 7.0 PH regularly, and needed to adjust a lot, after quite awhile. Plants started going down hill. Meter finally died from low battery. When I put new battery in readings were incredibly high. As the battery was dying, I had to adjust it up. That is why you need 4.0 and 7.0 test solution.

I bought 5 of them after that. Have only used 2 of them, and they barely need adjustment at all. I always rinse with RO water, test, than rinse with RO water again.

Even with an expensive meter, I would calibrate to 4 and 7 at least every 2 weeks.

 

[MJINC]

The only problem I had, was I calibrated it to 7.0 PH regularly, and needed to adjust a lot, after quite awhile. Plants started going down hill. Meter finally died from low battery. When I put new battery in readings were incredibly high. As the battery was dying, I had to adjust it up. That is why you need 4.0 and 7.0 test solution.

I bought 5 of them after that. Have only used 2 of them, and they barely need adjustment at all. I always rinse with RO water, test, than rinse with RO water again.

Even with an expensive meter, I would calibrate to 4 and 7 at least every 2 weeks.

I use a bluelab PH meter and on the manual it's very specific about not soaking or rinsing the meter in RO, distilled or de-ionized water. It warns that it changes the chemistry in the reference and causes the probe to die. You may want to check up if yours has the same warning.

 

[OldPhart]

Meter finally died from low battery. When I put new battery in readings were incredibly high. As the battery was dying, I had to adjust it up. That is why you need 4.0 and 7.0 test solution.

It is interesting that you mentioned the battery. I believe the battery is the weak link with these meters. It would appear that the meter has no type of circuit to compensate for the voltage of the battery. I believe that you should leave the power turned on, to keep it in a 'consistent' state. I have found that you can turn it on, calibrate it, and 10 minutes later it will be off again. but if you leave it turned on overnight, you can calibrate it, and hours to days later it will still be dead on. I'm just leaving it turned on, and calibrating it before every use.

 

[EL1M1N80R]

My yellow ph pen was fkd before I opened the box.

Here is me with 0 experience using a ph meter and the pen I am using is broke.

I got 1 huge headache and wanted to chuck out all my equipment big time.

£31.99 of amazon got me a half decent one and I can't complain.

Got calibration fluid, storage fluid, and cleaning fluid from Growth Technology.

Can't complain.

I do often see people complaining about having to buy this extra maintenance fluids for a ph pen. Kinda like buying a car and getting pissed it's needs oil and water aswell as fuel. Beats walking though.

 

[SamsonsRiddle]

I don't know what you guys are talking about... I got the etekcity .05 or .01(can't remember) high accuracy model and have had nothing but success with it. I hardly ever calibrate it, and only use the 7.0 solution to calibrate it.

My process is to pull the ph pen out of the cap filled with 4.0 solution and put into ro water for 5 minutes - test - back into ro water for 5 minutes before being put back into a filled cap of 4.0 solution (the cap has enough air space to add the 4.0 solution to properly store these).

Going on 3 years now and the calibration has never gone further than 1 ph when stored for more than a month.

 

[idiit]

I was using a different totally bullshit ph pen and since the water here is treated to highly alkaline to reduce waste water pipe corrosion my ph was way off. got a bluelab ph pen now that you calibrate and the results are much better. ppl are saying my growing skills have improved. well, my grows do look and perform a lot better now.

imo ain't nothing more important than correct ph. something to make sure of and not skimp on.

 

[MJINC]

I don't know what you guys are talking about... I got the etekcity .05 or .01(can't remember) high accuracy model and have had nothing but success with it. I hardly ever calibrate it, and only use the 7.0 solution to calibrate it.

My process is to pull the ph pen out of the cap filled with 4.0 solution and put into ro water for 5 minutes - test - back into ro water for 5 minutes before being put back into a filled cap of 4.0 solution (the cap has enough air space to add the 4.0 solution to properly store these).

Going on 3 years now and the calibration has never gone further than 1 ph when stored for more than a month.

1 ph in a month is huge. Also if you're in a hydro setup trying to get your solution in that 5.8 range but are even 0.5 ph too low you could be doing a hell of a lot of damage to your plants

 

[meadowman]

once in a while you luck out and get a "good cheap1". i couldn't justify $200-400 for a meter for years. well i finally caved and grabbed a blue lab combo and only wish i dropped the money years before.

 

[MJINC]

once in a while you luck out and get a "good cheap1". i couldn't justify $200-400 for a meter for years. well i finally caved and grabbed a blue lab combo and only wish i dropped the money years before.

I've seen so many varying prices for bluelab meters so when you see a good deal grab it. I managed to get 4 bluelab waterproof ph pens and 4 bluelab EC/ppm/temp pens for $450 total for me and three friends. Was a steal from a store that was closing down. Also picked up the ph 4 and 7 calibrating solution and the 2.77EC conductivity solution

 

[EL1M1N80R]

do you mean the yellow ones you calibrate with the screw on the back??? i got one recently and have been using it to ph my water, have not calibrated it yet because don't have ro/distilled water and don't have ph drops/strips.... hope i'm ok...

You'll need to get calibration fluid. A PH 7 and PH 4. About 10 quids worth.

 

[EL1M1N80R]

I use a bluelab PH meter and on the manual it's very specific about not soaking or rinsing the meter in RO, distilled or de-ionized water. It warns that it changes the chemistry in the reference and causes the probe to die. You may want to check up if yours has the same warning.

I'm thinking about a bluelab once the one I have dies, it's still going strong.

 

[legalcanada]

You'll need to get calibration fluid. A PH 7 and PH 4. About 10 quids worth.

yes the thing came with 1 calibration package each of 4 and 6.86. i'll get a bottle of each solution and maybe test liquid or strips to double check things

 

[frostqueen]

Hmm. Am I the only one that keeps a shotglass of fresh ph7 calibration liquid around?

Not checking the calibration of -any- ph pen is the way to kill plants. Don't blame the meter.

Here's the deal with ANY ph pen, be it a $15 yellow piece of crap or a $400 scientific instrument: if you do a quick dip in the ph7 calibration fluid and make the number on the pen match with the little screwdriver, it is 100% accurate. Blaming and bashing the pen because you don't feel like checking the calibration seems a bit silly to me. Some more expensive pens may hold the calibration a bit better, but beyond that...

I have used these crappy yellow disposable meters for a couple years now and never had a single problem, but I do (1) check it each time in the calibration fluid (takes 15 seconds), and (2) I replace the batteries every 2 months. I don't even use the ph4 juice except when I first get a new pen. Also, don't use those crappy powders. Buy a small bottle of pre-mixed ph7 fluid, it lasts a long time. Just dump it out or cap it so it stays level at 7.

They do have a tendency to drift upwards a couple tenths if the batteries get weaker, but I rarely do adjustments. The bigger gripe for me is the crappy glass bulb on them usually breaks after 6 months or so. But hey: for $15? I can live with that. I will say this: the blue 'autocalibrate' digital ones totally suck. The manual screw-in-back ones work fine, though.

 

[troutman]

I had one too and it worked great until I dropped it in the water.

All I have to show for now is the case and the little screwdriver that came with it.

 

[DJXX]

never had nothing but the cheap yellow ones and they have been fine...just grab a bottle of calibration liquid...jus calibrate whenever jarred..at $10 each just toss it and open another...or spend a whole bunch more on one you must maintain the same way>>DJXX

 

[DoubleTripleOG]

I have been using those cheap yellow pens for over a decade. They work great for the cost. Few simple things to keep in mind. Keep an extra or two. Good way to determine accuracy of a the pen you use on the regular. If one pen shows drastically different readings, compared to the others, you know that pen has issues. Buy a large bottle of calibration solution. Calibrate the pen(s) before every actual use that will effect the grow. A shot glass holds plenty of calibration solution for a test.

A 32 oz. bottle of calibration solution will last a month or more. Checking the pen every day is especially important when growing hydro. With soil/soil-less mixes its not as huge of a deal. The money spent each month on calibration solution is well worth the cost when put into perspective.

With the cheap yellow pens any kind of fall/hard hit will mess them up. After a fall calibrate it again. Following those guidelines, I have had those cheap $5 pens last over a year, couple I've got 4-5 years out of.