New Grower Ph meters?

[Subcriminal]

I've been growing a few yrs now and have gotten away with not having a ph meter with no problems until recently when i had a problem with one plant(g13 sour candy). I realize that if i had one all these yrs i may have had healthier plants but i've had good results without so i never picked one up.

I was hoping i could get some suggestions for a good ph meter in the $100 range maybe. Links to a reputable seller would be cool. I was looking for a thread on ph meters here and found nothing so if there is already a thread on this maybe someone could point me in that direction?

 

[namvet25]

Go to amazon.com and you will find quite a few. I bought An oakton ph2 for around sixty bucks and it has worked great. It's waterproof, has auto calibration auto temp compinsation and auto off.

 

[Hugo]

I would recommend Hanna Instruments. They have quality standards

While your at it, get a model with ppm readings.

 

[Mellow Yellow]

This is what I have!

I have these and they work great!

 

[sielm]

I don't want to sound like an asshole, but I can't really recommend the meters you included there, Mellow. I had a pH meter exactly like the one you posted (the yellow one). It was a brand-less cheap meter, which did not have stable readings (the value would vary a lot even after calibration) and is not only not waterproof, but easily broken if splashed with water.

I also had a similar soil pH meter like the black one in that pic, and it simply would not work. The device also had a feature which shows the moisture of the soil (that DID work, although it's not very useful) and another feature which was a light detector, which also worked but was plain useless.

So I would not buy a brand-less meter like that yellow one in the pic. I would pick a good brand meter, because what you want is a reliable meter to get pH values, not an expensive toy which would not read a correct value...

I think Hanna, Adwa, HM, Eutech... are good solid brands. Just don't buy a cheap non-branded one, you'll regret it!

Just my

 

[Muddy]

I know for certain that the probe type that MY posted is a Control Wizard Accurate 8, same one I have. If yours was also a CW I suspect you may have had a defective one. They are very reliable and what I've been using for several years now. Only way to truly know the pH of your soil without spending hundreds of dollars on an expensive soil probe.

For liquids I recommend the Hanna Combo. Does pH, TDS, PPM and temperature.

I don't want to sound like an asshole, but I can't really recommend the meters you included there, Mellow. I had a pH meter exactly like the one you posted (the yellow one). It was a brand-less cheap meter, which did not have stable readings (the value would vary a lot even after calibration) and is not only not waterproof, but easily broken if splashed with water.

I also had a similar soil pH meter like the black one in that pic, and it simply would not work. The device also had a feature which shows the moisture of the soil (that DID work, although it's not very useful) and another feature which was a light detector, which also worked but was plain useless.

So I would not buy a brand-less meter like that yellow one in the pic. I would pick a good brand meter, because what you want is a reliable meter to get pH values, not an expensive toy which would not read a correct value...

I think Hanna, Adwa, HM, Eutech... are good solid brands. Just don't buy a cheap non-branded one, you'll regret it!

Just my

 

[sielm]

In fact my soil meter was not exactly that one, but one similar to that (it had 2 probes instead of only 1). It wouldn't measure pH correctly at all, the dial wouldn't almost move when testing different soils... Only the moisture and light modes worked and they were pretty much useless. I was going to purchase a new one but I changed my mind and got a digital Adwa meter, which is much more consistent reading values and has digital calibration. I did not know that exact model, and if you say it's reliable then I totally believe you. I just had a bad experience with a similar device...

For soil ph measurements I use the method of percolation (spelling?). I read about the method somewhere else. It's not supossed to give you a 100% accurate soil ph value but an approximation. The method to measure soil ph is as follows: first, water the soil thoroughly using distilled water, let it run off and wait 1 hour. After that, water with more distilled until you get the runoff again, then use this runoff to measure ph/ec. This second runoff is supposed to give good approximations in ph and ec values for soil.

BTW if you plan on buying the meters be sure to purchase calibration solutions too! The meter will not be accurate for long and you'll soon need them.

 

[astronomy420a]

[video]http://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instruments-Waterproof-Conductivity-Tester/dp/B002ZG8L58/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340371340&sr=8-3&keywords=ph+meter+hanna[/video] look at this one!

 

[Muddy]

Those cheap, 2 pronged soil testers are notoriously inaccurate. The CW is a quality unit and can be found on the net for around $50.

In fact my soil meter was not exactly that one, but one similar to that (it had 2 probes instead of only 1). It wouldn't measure pH correctly at all, the dial wouldn't almost move when testing different soils... Only the moisture and light modes worked and they were pretty much useless. I was going to purchase a new one but I changed my mind and got a digital Adwa meter, which is much more consistent reading values and has digital calibration. I did not know that exact model, and if you say it's reliable then I totally believe you. I just had a bad experience with a similar device...

For soil ph measurements I use the method of percolation (spelling?). I read about the method somewhere else. It's not supossed to give you a 100% accurate soil ph value but an approximation. The method to measure soil ph is as follows: first, water the soil thoroughly using distilled water, let it run off and wait 1 hour. After that, water with more distilled until you get the runoff again, then use this runoff to measure ph/ec. This second runoff is supposed to give good approximations in ph and ec values for soil.

BTW if you plan on buying the meters be sure to purchase calibration solutions too! The meter will not be accurate for long and you'll soon need them.

 

[agito]

dont know how much it is but blue lab truncheon stuff is excellent ive got a cf meter which is 7+ years old and still going strong