Im pretty sure the OP isn’t looking for a soil PH meter for under $20.
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So you check the PH of the water you use on your organic grow with a solid tester? Also the Apera PH60 I mentioned can use 4 different replacement probes so can be used on soil as well.
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For the ignorant,
You can use a liquid “hydro” tester to test the ph of soil.
This is an established garden practice so watch out, I know how much some of you hate science…
Take a soil sample
Place it in a glass, recommend at least 8oz
Add DISTILLED water
You need to add water until it is EXACTLY level with the soil. No dry spots but no water sitting above the soil.
You will now be able to insert your probe into the soil and obtain accurate ph measurements… with a $20 meter… 
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Ah the good old slurry test. Tried and true for a long time. I still like that I can get 4 interchangeable probes for my meter 
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Even the nice pens require calibration and sitting in the correct solution and a ton of headaches. I’m back to strips and will be long as I’m a small
hobbyist.
The strips were like $5/million on amazon.
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You can use strips the same way, just let the water sit for several minutes before you test
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Never owned one lol. I use the gh liquid indicator. Then I just add ph+ or down to desired ph level
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Whenever I’ve tried various pH meters I always go back to my fish tank test I use the drops in. I’ll deal with user error over mechanical error any day.
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I recently bought the 13$ vivosun ph meter on amazon and it broke instantly. Save and get a bluelab PH pen. The calibration solution alone is $13.99 and the pen is around $80 https://amzn.to/3lk0AvS
If you go cheap you might as well just burn the money
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My bluelab pen lasted me less than a year, storing it in the solution properly and everything, it just wont let me recalibrate it, they even state the thing will only last like 16 months , so 80$ every year and ahalf. Im just lucky i remember how much ph up and down i need after adding nutes and when its just clean water. It still kinda works , its really slow to check ph and its off by like .1 but it still works i guess
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Have not used one for several years. I switched away from some products that moved the needle on the pH and now I use products that really do not mess with pH and actually adjust with the grow. IF new get a GOOD pH meter so that you can take care of your plants better.
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That’s about how long my Bluelab pen lasted too. When it started taking longer to get a reading than it took to automatically power off, I chucked it.
Part of the reason I went with the PH60 from Apera was the replaceable tips for less than half the cost of a new pen. The electrodes do actually degrade over time & use, so being able to spend a fraction of the original cost to replace versus the whole amount is good in my book.
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It is very important to get a proper PH. Certain nutrients will be locked out otherwise. I used Oakton one for 1-2 years and it was great also. I believe any PH meter needs to be replaced every 1-2 years no matter how good it is. Atleast you know it will work for 4+ grows. This kind of mind set would be better served with organic living soil where you do not need to ph (hopefully.) I grow in hydro so it is very important to get ph exact at around 5.8.
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Yea im just usin some regular fox farms cocoloco and just regular foxfarm nutes so it seems to be doin fine without it being spot on everytime, i could only imagine the pain it would b usin some faulty shit growin in hydro
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I use this PH pen for my foop feeds. I’ve had it for two years and every month I do a ph test and haven’t had to calibrate it yet. I thought I screwed up buying a cheap one but i clean it everytime and always put the solution in the cap so it doesn’t dry out.
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What the hell is that?!?
And, weird what a couple of you are saying about BlueLabs. I’ve heard others say they’ve worked for them well at 5+years. Guess this is just the other end of the spectrum. Gotta love quality control, lol.
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I’ve got a cheap yellow ph meter with ATC on the front, three years old, changed the battery and recalibrated it once, spray the bulb with water after use, rock steady.
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Thanks all for your suggestions and experiences. This will help me make a determination. I’m growing in soil but only on my 3rd grow. Last grow I got bad genetics was supposed to be autos but didn’t then grew really wonky. Also it showed signs of nitrogen toxicity and other seemingly bad issues. That’s when I started worrying about pH. Even though I checked and I was on point I like to be able to diagnose issues by pH if it’s not obvious like needs water or change light height. So for me it’s more for problem solving. I do check my nute mix to be sure and ever 3 watering will check run off.
oh yeah, after trying a ton of these meters, the Apera’s blow everything else out of the water. Little pricey but nothing like the prohibitively expensive BlueLabs stuff. I have the PH60 and EC60 and both have lasted me a couple years so far and still going (knock on wood). Replaceable probes, stays calibrated for a long time… really can’t beat these pens for the money.
The test strips and drops and whatnot are only fine if you’re not using nutrients that alter the color of the water. Hard to tell the right color when the water starts out pink or brown…
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Ya using fft so definitely color change I know my numbers with fert since I use ro water so not super worried about that just want to be able to quickly diagnose possible issues.
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