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k.i.s.s. ph test strips

yea where are the manual ph'ers@ im a pen guy.but strips seem good for long term storage???and i use vials for soil from time to time.peace and a peaceful harvest
 
why cut out the pH pen man? One of the best things in my inventory. My pen is pretty simple and reliable, just needs calibrating once in a while.

Anyway, I've used the kind with the solution and it works... but definitely not accurate like a calibrated pH pen. Might be ok for soil but for hydro/coco a pen is a must, in my opinion.
 
S

Señor Chang

My color-blind kingdom for an alternate to test strips!
 

Sgt.Stedenko

Crotchety Cabaholic
Veteran
Just remember to keep your test strips away from your bottle of pH down.
The fumes from the acid will destroy the test strips if stored in proximity.
I've seen it happen twice. Once with my grow test strips and once with my spa test strips.
 
G

Guest 18340

This is what I use;

Never needs batteries or recalibration and is dead on reliable every time.
Not as precise as a pen, but after using it for awhile you'll know exactly what those color change equates to.
 

smoke1sun

What Goes Around Comes Around. But Am I Comming Or
Veteran
This is what I use;

Never needs batteries or recalibration and is dead on reliable every time.
Not as precise as a pen, but after using it for awhile you'll know exactly what those color change equates to.

No calibrating, no batteries, last forever, no need for a backup.
 

cody2white

ghost in training
Veteran
Sgt. I think I clicked the beg rep on accident. Sorry I didn't mean to. Thank you for the quick responses guys its greatly appreciated :) im going to use my petsmart version first then im going to order then general hydroponics version.
 

City Twin

Member
I have AlkaMax saliva and urine strip on hand. Available at most pharmacy outlets. A little pricey but check my body ph occasionally and they are handy in the garden. 5.0 to 9.0 in half point increments.
 

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I have a Blue lab 3 in 1 meter, Fantastic piece of equipment and is extremely accurate. This is no toy and is a must for a serious grower imo(or one that is just as good)

Those test stripes only give you a ball park PH. A reading of 6 could be 5 or 5.5. I have used these for 15 years in my profession and always had issues with accuracy.
 

qbert

Member
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=212816

Here's a fuck my digital pen thread. The thing with pens is they rely soley on batteries and need to maintained and calibrated. Why go through guessing when I can just dip a stick and find my 6.0 ph color? Kiss!


Can't say I've had anything remotely like those experiences. My Oakton pH2 is dead on. I don't have to do an "maintenance" or store it in fluid even. Checking it in calibration fluid takes 30 seconds at most, re-calibrating it (haven't had to in a year yet) would take only about 15 seconds longer.


As for your 6.0 color, you'll never find it. You're trying to match a color with your eye - it's very subjective.

One day your "6.0 color" might be 6.3 the next it might be 5.7 (a guess at the range, but the point is you can never really be that sure about the actual pH as you are always guessing at the color to a degree).


I've also had bad batches of pH strips, and I've also ordered the wrong kind of pH strips. You wouldn't have a clue they were wrong unless you also checked them against calibration fluid.

And, of course, it takes 10 times as long to check the pH with a strip vs. a meter in my experience - and all those minutes add up. I don't know about you guys but this gardening hobby is not my entire life, when I'm in the room I'm trying to get shit done and move on.

Digital reading FTW.
 

robbiedublu

Member
imho, digtal pen is by far the better option

You are just plain WRONG! Do a search and see how many threads there are concerning problems with pH pens.
I can buy a roll of pH paper for about 12 bucks and it lasts for 6 months. In 5 yrs i've never regreted not buying a pen and i've never had a pH problem. I just don't understand why people bother with pens.
 

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
That's why I mentioned Blue lab this is not a toy and is a laboratory grade piece of equipment. I do have a pH pen as well but I can calibrate it to the blue lab. If I use the PH pen it has to be calibrated before ea use but takes les then 3 min to do. Just think how much better your crop might be if you had an accurate PH reading. If I was doing Hydro of any kind it 's a must have piece of equipment.
 

nukklehead

Active member
I think there is a quality control issue with pens.. My first was the Tuncheon ( blue labs) was very expensive.. thought I got what I paid for but it was jacked up.. Spent big bucks in mailing to send it back to Australia,, where it came from at that time.. sent back and still jacked up.
Did the oak thing.. same thing.. went to GH strips and never went back. Not saying the pens dont work.. I just seem to never get a good one.. story of my life:tiphat:
 

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