PH Question?

canadian.bud21

canadian.bud21

Active Member
I cannot afford a digital/expensive ph meter right now so the only thing I have is this ph liquid test with a vile... First of all will this only work on soil? Cause I'm using a soilless "pro mix" ... Vermiculite, peat moss etc... And so I've used this befor but could not tell for the life of me wtf was going on or how to use it. Its a small bottle with green liquid. And a chart with colours ranging 1 to 10. Your suppose fill the small vile with sample medium and apply a few drops and compare to the chart on bottle. Honestly the colour did not seem to change whatsoever. can anyone please help me or has had experience with this? Thanks
 
Never used it with soil only hydro...you grab your sample add a few drops..give it a good shake and maybe grab a piece of plain white paper and but it behind the vile so you can clearly see...
 
u fill the vile half full of the water you are watering with ad then add 3-5 drops of nutes it wont work if your nutes change the color of the water, also to test the soil ph i soaked half a cup of my soil in neutral phed water and then straind the dirt and phed the water
 
it will be nearly impossible to get a good read of your soils ph with a color chart as the soil will color the water altering the chart!!!
those ph tests are designed for testing clear water
 
Shit!.. I'll try tomorrow to get an accurate sample reading. But I'll have to find a digital meter for cheap asap. PH is so important... What's the optimal PH levels? Is veg 6.0 and flower 5.5?
 
Test your water before you water. 3 drops of solution in the tube. Vinegar is very helpful in lowering your ph level, 1 tbl per gallon of water, should lower your to 6. You can buy a ph meter on ebay for 20 bucks.
 
In soil, shoot for 6.5 throughout the entire grow, and the plants will be very happy if you're successful. :wink:
 
Awsome. Thanks for all the help guys... I don't have anything to bring the ph down but I heard feeding your plants will bring the ph down? This true? I do have a bottle of ph up (potassium hydroxide) and a bunch of other micro ingredients. Can anyone tell me how to use this? There is no instructions. How much tbl per gallon of water? How much per midium (growing containter) thanks
 
KAOSOWNER said:
it will be nearly impossible to get a good read of your soils ph with a color chart as the soil will color the water altering the chart!!!
those ph tests are designed for testing clear water
Click to expand...

well clearly i have tested soil with it or i wouldnt have said it so yes it works on soil u just have to know how.

canadian.bud21 said:
Awsome. Thanks for all the help guys... I don't have anything to bring the ph down but I heard feeding your plants will bring the ph down? This true? I do have a bottle of ph up (potassium hydroxide) and a bunch of other micro ingredients. Can anyone tell me how to use this? There is no instructions. How much tbl per gallon of water? How much per midium (growing containter) thanks
Click to expand...

and most nutes drop the ph but some also raise it so u need to find out what ur nutes do. also do your nutes change the color of the water. and when u add ph up u have to take the ph after u add a few drops of the upper then recheck and if not high or low enogh add more till its right. and plants in soil will grow best in a ph between 6 and 7 is best i always do 6.5
 
well what kind of soil did you get man if you got sunshine there's lime in there to buff the ph
a soil ph meter is 10 to 20.00 at home depot
to lower the ph of water you can use a little vinegar if nothing else is available
i bought a hydro ph meter and just check my water instead of my soil
 
sappytreetree said:
well what kind of soil did you get man if you got sunshine there's lime in there to buff the ph
a soil ph meter is 10 to 20.00 at home depot
to lower the ph of water you can use a little vinegar if nothing else is available
i bought a hydro ph meter and just check my water instead of my soil
Click to expand...

HUh, haven't tried the vials with the pH stuff, that's a good idea to have on hand.

I took some time to save up for the expensive meter because it's totally worth it. And if you're going to grow for a while, it's really going to save you money over time.

truly, if you want to be a serious grower, you need to make sure you have the best equipment.

After all, matching up the colors for the pH readings is tricky - subjective at best. You really need to get a meter as soon as possible.

Good luck there.

:bigjoint:
 
thanks again... i give up on this. it only works well on ph'ing water (mine reads 6.0) but i will buy a digital one soon. my last grow was successful without knowing ph the entire grow, that was soil. now im using pro mix. i should be fine til i buy a digital meter
 
mcpurple my question is how would you know if the reading was accurate? if the color is altered it will give you a different result..... i actually tried to see before i posted this, this is what i did
poured 6.2 ph water into soil tested sample with a mettler toledo sg2 ph meter then tested sample with General Hydroponics' ph test indicator solution only one of the samples matched
the matching sample was clear compared to rest as part of the soil was not absorbing the water and most of it ran threw

if it works for you cool but i would not reccomend it myself

soil ph try to maintain between 6.2 - 6.8
Hydro ph between 5.2 - 5.8
 
Dude i have just bought one of e bay for 1.99 plus 4.00 packageing.For any one saying it won't read right a friend has one bought from a hydro shop over here the uk and all the readings are the same his cost 45.00.I was always one who used to use the liquid ph testers and you would not belive how far some are out.It can make your life alot easyer with a ph and cf/ppm/ec meter.The the ph one is a nessessary you need to invest in......................tyke..................................................
 
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