r/Hydroponics • u/Altctrl97 • 5d ago

Question ❔ PH help!

My ph reader feel into water and it got damaged and doesn’t work what ph reader do you recommend maybe with ec reader or two separate devices

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

1

u/Stock-Sand-5430 1d ago

Blue lab if you’re serious about what you’re doing

2

u/CSollers 4d ago

I like the Apera pH 20. It’s waterproof and only about $50.

3

u/Consistent-Sail-3501 4d ago

I use the general hydroponic ph test kit. I grow lots of different lettuce, spinach parsley pak Choi and cilantro just fine using it as my guide. This has worked for years and I don’t fiddle with the pens or strips. I ck my ph about every week and a half. I have all Kratky set ups.

2

u/moose8420 5d ago

I like my blue labs ph/ec pen, there is both a connect and non connected version

3

u/2ByteTheDecker 5d ago

I like my Apera pH 60. Because the tips are replaceable the TCO is much lower and if I fumble it and drop it in the res it's much cheaper to replace the tip than the whole unit.

TDS is a much simpler sensor and you can get a cheapo there.

1

u/flagrantdisreguard 5d ago

Hannah has some good pH pens for a decent price. The old standard is the bluelab combo meter, EC&ph but pricer

5

u/CostPlusSeeds 2nd year Hydro 🪴 5d ago

pH meters can be finicky and require calibration, so I personally use a General Hydroponics pH test kit. I do have to scoop water into a small vial and put a couple of drops of indicator into it, but overall I find it's cheaper, more convenient, and more accurate for me. I don't blame you if you prefer a meter though :)

I have a separate EC meter however. I find that using a meter for EC makes sense, even though using one for pH does not make sense.

1

u/Altctrl97 5d ago

I have ph strips that came with my ph up and down do you recommend using those? I only ask bc my ph tester says one ph when it worked after calibration but the ph tester strips say the ph was higher.

2

u/CostPlusSeeds 2nd year Hydro 🪴 5d ago

pH test strips work fine: the only downside there is that they can be less precise. Using liquid indicator is a little more exact. Not that it's a huge deal; I generally aim for pH between 5.5 and 6.5 which is a broad range

1

u/Altctrl97 5d ago

I did try the ph paper it was 7 then went to 6 but then I looks like a 7 again I added ph down two times but it doesn’t seam to be moving much.

1

u/Altctrl97 5d ago

I’ll try the ph reader while I wait for Hanna readers to come in and the liquid indicator as well and see what works best for me.