Question about ph

jondamon said:

My solution was brand new with the pen at the time.
But dude we’re talking a decade ago lol.

i just use pH drops now.

as long as I’m between 5.5-6 on my colour chart I’m happy.

Click to expand...

Ya that's how I used to do it. It works. But I like to have a bit more accuracy

Jjgrow420 said:

Are you using old solution to calibrate? That's usually the reason they won't go into CAL mode
Happened with my b-lab ppm pen I emailed them and they told me to get new solution. I did and it calibrated fine after.

Click to expand...

My response should have said solutions.


when the pen began playing up I’m pretty sure at one point I was calibrating 4, 7 and 10 to try and get it to cal.

Each time was new solution from the bottle in a cleaned and dried vessel and then discarded after calibrating (when it did lol).

Jjgrow420 said:

Ya that's how I used to do it. It works. But I like to have a bit more accuracy

Click to expand...

I’m not so worried about pH preciseness. If you’re specifically trying to steer a certain nutrient uptake to target a specific “best” pH for that nutrient then ofcourse preciseness is best.

But I don’t overly worry about it the same as I don’t stress about VPD ranges too much.

Jjgrow420 said:

I dunno had my pens for years and no problems ....

Click to expand...

Jjgrow420 said:

I dunno had my pens for years and no problems ....

Click to expand...

I left water out overnight in a glass and tested again. Says my Ph is now 6 to 7. So I'm just going to leave my water out that I plan on using for my plants

Scripts said:

I'm in the woods pretty much. Someone came in and drilled a well for my place. My whole place is hooked up to it. I really hope my Ph isn't actually 5. I tested Publix bottled water. Same 5ph.... so maybe it's my GH solution. I went down a rabbit hole and I can't find a good PH pen. Bluelab is expensive and if it breaks you have to pay for shipping to get them to analyze it. I'm not trying to cut corners. But I also don't want to spend like 130$ on a pen.

Click to expand...

You don't need to spend big on a pen to get accuracy. Even a cheap pen will work fine if you check calibration often and keep it in storage sol'n between uses. I trained as a a chemist so have kept my pH pen working OK for close to a decade now.

You're going to want pH4 and 7 calibration sol'ns. The pre-mixed liquid ones are what I use but many pens will come with some powdered salts you mix with water to make them. Get yourself some distilled water from a drug store to mix them with as tap water will almost certainly throw them off. Only 3 - $5/gal so not much. Follow the directions exactly to get it right.

Also get some storage sol'n to keep your pen in when not using. I keep a spray bottle with distilled or good RO water in it to rinse off the probe before and after use. Most pens have a cap you can put the storage sol'n in and sand the pen in an empty jar or cup to keep it upright.

If that bottled water also tested at 5 then it's got to be the test sol'n. That is never sold at low pH. Lemon juice is about 5 or lower.

The real pH of your well water is more likely close to 8 if anything. My dugout water which is also our tap water is pH8 and 400ppm depending on season. Just about to get diluted with spring runoff here so will drop to around pH 7.5 and 250 - 300ppm for a couple months.

Is it possible to calibrate a ph/ppm/ec pen in distilled water only? And is there anything diy that I can make to store the probe?

Indogrow420 said:

Is it possible to calibrate a ph/ppm/ec pen in distilled water only? And is there anything diy that I can make to store the probe?

Click to expand...

No to the first question, yes to the second question.

Water from my city is average 300ppm l add a tablespoon or two of epsom salts to 400 or 500ppm approx and nute up to 1200ppm depending on stage, can be as low as 700ppm. I mix pure by cannapro in 5g bucket. Works well for me, lf l stay on top of spidermites. Even one part mixes can use a tweaking here and there. City water fluctuates so l test every time when feeding with ppms as guide.

Indogrow420 said:

Is it possible to calibrate a ph/ppm/ec pen in distilled water only? And is there anything diy that I can make to store the probe?

Click to expand...

Cant remember but vinegar is around 4ph l believe. Google it.

Southernontariogrower said:

Cant remember but vinegar is around 4ph l believe. Google it.

Click to expand...

It's around 50x more acidic than that.

PJ Diaz said:

It's around 50x more acidic than that.

Click to expand...

Ty PJ Diaz your right there. My bad, Maybe a table spoon in cup of water?

Southernontariogrower said:

Ty PJ Diaz your right there. My bad, Maybe a table spoon in cup of water?

Click to expand...

Maybe, but I sure wouldn't trust it for calibration purposes.

I like 5.5-5.6 in veg, like 5.7 in transition, 6.0 for flower, and 6.3 for like my last week or 2

PJ Diaz said:

No to the first question, yes to the second question.

Make your own pH probe storage solution

So I got tired of buying the KCl solution for storing pH probes in. They charge too much for that shit. I bought a pound of potassium chloride on amazon for $9.49. To make a standard 3 Mole KCl solution you take 22.37 grams of potassium chloride and add it to 100 mL of distilled water (I just...

www.rollitup.org

Click to expand...

Funny man. I guess you learned something last time I posted that thread,

Scripts said:

I left water out overnight in a glass and tested again. Says my Ph is now 6 to 7View attachment 5103412. So I'm just going to leave my water out that I plan on using for my plants

Click to expand...

That looks like it's around 6.2 to me. Lots of dudes are color blind though and have a hard time with this stuff. I think it's like 1 in 10 or something crazy.

PadawanWarrior said:

Funny man. I guess you learned something last time I posted that thread,

Click to expand...

Actually I learned about when the thread was first posted a couple of years ago. At the end of the day though, I decided to just buy the drops, because they are cheap and a little go a long way.

PJ Diaz said:

Actually I learned about when the thread was first posted a couple of years ago. At the end of the day though, I decided to just buy the drops, because they are cheap and a little go a long way.

Click to expand...

Ren's the man.

MickFoster said:

I've been using the pH drops for decades and they're never wrong........even when stored for years.

Click to expand...

Hey I am really leaving towards the drops.
Will it still test correctly with the nutes changing the color of the water?

GuerillaGOAT said:

Hey I am really leaving towards the drops.
Will it still test correctly with the nutes changing the color of the water?

Click to expand...

Depends how badly the colour of the nutes makes the solution but usually yes it can still read correctly.

I like GROWTH TECHNOLOGY pH drops and the SERA PH dropper test for aquariums.

jondamon said:

Depends how badly the colour of the nutes makes the solution but usually yes it can still read correctly.

I like GROWTH TECHNOLOGY pH drops and the SERA PH dropper test for aquariums.

Click to expand...

I know my veg nuke makes it a heavy tannish brown color.

so when I go to drop test it it should still turn the color I’m aiming for? Once I adjust the ph up or down.

GuerillaGOAT said:

I know my veg nuke makes it a heavy tannish brown color.

so when I go to drop test it it should still turn the color I’m aiming for? Once I adjust the ph up or down.

Click to expand...

It should be fine.

but there’s no real way to know without trying it.

Obviously if you use something that colours the water very blue etc then you may get issues.

could you mix up a batch and show the colour of your solution once mixed?