need--> ph-tds-ec meters, the right one??

[the gnome]

I'm doing a soil grow and having a few probs.
I think its time to get a meter.

hannah, milwaukee and blue lab seem to be the main ones.
which one has what I need, Ive never used one before.
soem have a temp reading, why would you need that in your tester. I don't mind spending good money for a quality instrument thats reliable and gong to last.

I just read that hannah changed their supplier for their ph probes and they don't seem to last now.
please point me in the right direction

 

[Phedrosbenny]

I have allways heard "Hanah" is the best.The good ones are exspensive though.Milwaukee ones are exspensive to but people have ALOT of problems with them.For so high of price I would avoid them.Hope this helps.

What problems are you having in soil?

 

[overbudjet]

Blue Lab

 

[FreezerBoy]

Do yourself and the hobby a favor, forget "TDS" and "PPM" and stick with EC. The Bluelab EC truncheon is the most trusted EC meter around.

pH pens are basically toys and a crapshoot at best. Milwaukee sucks least, followed by Oakton, with Hanna scraping the bottom of the barrel. I stuck with aquarium test drops and spent my money on the Truncheon.

 

[kp^]

Do yourself and the hobby a favor, forget "TDS" and "PPM" and stick with EC. The Bluelab EC truncheon is the most trusted EC meter around.

pH pens are basically toys and a crapshoot at best. Milwaukee sucks least, followed by Oakton, with Hanna scraping the bottom of the barrel. I stuck with aquarium test drops and spent my money on the Truncheon.

FreezerBoy is Right on the money IMO!

My truncheon was well worth the money! I've used other PPM/EC meters, but the truncheon is the best. It's easy to use, calibrates on its own... Place it in your water for 1-2min, take it out shake... shake... place back in water.. read measurement... The neato thing about the truncheon is that it reads EC and 2 PPM scales at the same time.. You also get a CF measurement as well..

For PH...Using drops for now, but it gets the job done.. My trees are loving yellow to orange

Happy growing!

 

[the gnome]

I was looking at the BL truncheon, I liked the price compared to some of the others.

phedro, my soil probs are minor but i don't want them to get out of hand.
I don't know if I'm exp. def's or if they are getting nute burn.
I have what looks like a mag. def but Ive been giving them cal mag and there's dolo in the mix. I'm beginning to think i may have nut lockout? but don't know for sure so yesterday i just flushed with rainwater and i'm not going to give them anything except some molasses and liquid karma with water for a while.
ive read I can tell alot from my run off, ph for one and the tds-ec.
ive never used a tds or ec meter? Im not quite sure what they really do but
i need to learn.

will the BL Truncheon tell me water ph, and if theres too much or not enough fertz in my runoff?

 

[FreezerBoy]

The EC Truncheon is for EC only. I don't believe BL makes a pH Truncheon anymore.

 

[the gnome]

can someone tell me what the function is of a tds meter testing water before watering and then testing runoff?
same with the ec meter
exactly what do these two types of meters do??
what are they used for??
and why would I need or want one.
I have a very basic idea on the tds and thats it.

maybe someone can point me to a thread that will explain the very basics of what these instrument do and why it would help me testing runoff when i water my plants, btw, I do soil.

I know about ph

 

[FreezerBoy]

EC is Electrical Conductivity. "PPM" and "TDS" are EC converted to babel. Do yourself and the hobby a favor, stick to EC.

The more minerals in the water, the greater its ability to conduct electricity, the higher the EC. Because nutes are acidic, the greater the EC the lower the pH. I'm going to stop there because I don't do soil and don't know the rules of measuring runoff.

 

[overbudjet]

The EC Truncheon is for EC only. I don't believe BL makes a pH Truncheon anymore.

Exact,now they do the combo meter for ph/ec/temp.

 

[shogun]

hi i just bought a tri-meter and the readings are bang on great meter worth every penny...
atb shogun