pH, eC Meter

[GreeeeN GRassss]

im not sure about leaving it in calibrating solution, i know there is a solution for storing the meter not sure if its calibrating solution. to be honest i dont store my milwalkie in anything and its always only .2 or .3 out after a week or so.

another thing i have noticed while checking the EC of my water is, i always fill a 10L watering can then when i add nutes and ph i transfer this into 5L bottles with a sprinkler made out of lid reason i do this is the watering can puts to much water in, i need to get a finer sprinkler head but i haven't yet. i put the 10L into 2 5L bottles and then re checked EC one was 1.4 and the other was 1.2.

make sure you mix your nutes

 

[Pepe le skunk]

Went one year and tried to calibrate with ph 4 and ended up 1 point off on mine. woops. Used ph 7 to get it right.
Just an observation: The lower ph made some of the males show early in veg because of stress on some seeds I had started.

 

[Snow Crash]

Good choice on the Bluelab.

Store it in Bluelab Storage Solution. Or a similar Potassium Chloride solution (KCl). This is the fluid inside of the actual pH probe and it will prolong it's life. Do not store it in calibration solution as these are very high EC and can cause a leaching of the elements in the probe.

Personally, I don't think pH is at all important in Coco. After 6 years in Coco using a variety of different base nutrient programs (Canna, SensiBloom, Earth Juice, Fox Farm, Cutting Edge GMB, Lucas Formula, General Organics, CNS17, and Cyco) and supplements, what I have found is that the pH of most systems finishes around 6.0 to 6.2 and needs just a little push downwards to get to 5.8. Each system works well and needs some fine tuning for a perfect grow but that tuning is on the ratio of elements and not in running the perfect pH. Hell, these meters are not laboratory grade and should not be treated as such. I've seen 3 different Bluelab meters calibrated and read 5.7pH, 5.8pH, and 5.9pH. New meters, same brand, just calibrated... +/- 0.2pH

I haven't used a pH meter for 3-4 grows now (unless out of curiosity). Coco has a tremendous pH buffering capability and I use weakly bonded organic acids that assist in chelation and have had fantastic results with nutrient availability and growth rates. What got me on this was Cutting Edge Solutions full program with the Plant Amp. This is a calcium supplement in a weakly bonded organic acid solution that will cause the solution to dip to 4.5ish pH. I was scared to run it at first but CES's techs assured me and I just went for it. No problems found.

The pH going in can be low, but what comes out is always going to be buffered up. I now use Earth Juice Natural Down citric acid crystals. A little sprinkle in the reservoir and a stir and whatever... it's good.

The EC of my nutrient solution is very important to me. The concentration of elements and in the right ratio will make or break the grow. Running 5.5pH will not. The coco can deal with a low pH level and get the solution buffered back in range. It cannot deal with 20% too strong EC twice a day for several weeks. Eventually the buffer breaks, the ratios fall out of balance, and the plants suffer.

Basic EC levels for me are:
Veg - 0.8ec to 1.6ec
Early Flower - 1.2ec to 1.4ec
Mid to late flower - 1.4ec to 1.8ec

 

[Apache Kush]

I was looking at the Bluelab Soil PH tool. That doubles for solutions too, well isnt that nice!

Im in soil so I figured thats the one for me.

My bro has the Truncheon and he likes it, fyi..

 

[Apache Kush]

seems like Bluelab has the market cornered so far

I read a few guys with Hanna too but eh, idk