Cheap PH meters

Halman9000 said:

I am having to lowering my water or nute PH using vinegar to lower PH .
I have given up on this cheap meter .

I now count the number of drops of vinegar that I put in a consistent amount of water .

I also have no organic matter in my grow medium so I flush with Indoor Plant Liquid Nutes that have been Ph adjusted down with a certain number of drops of vinegar . I am using Tap water that has a PH of 8.5

I made the mistake of flushing with my tap water without adding nutes into my water and without using vinegar into the water . The result was getting a Boron Deficiency . To make matters worse , at high PH , Boron is not available enough ,
Luckily my Indoor liquid plant food has Boron and Copper , Iron and Manganese .

Because I have no organic matter I have to flush with Indoor liquid plant food that has been PH adjusted lower than 8.5 . My meter is not accurate , so I am left with counting the number of drops of vinegar that I put into a 6 ounce cup of water + Plant food and adjust by increaasing the number of drops I add to the flush liquid , incrementing one more drop at a time and documenting how many drops I add with each increment of drops of vinegar . I can't flush with PH adjusted water because my grow medium has no organic matter and no nutes in the grow medium unless nutes store up in coco coir ?

Halman9000

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Star Dog said:

@PadawanWarrior is KCI stable for long periods, if I make a litre or two say will I be able to use it all, or does it have a limited shelf life?

I've some old ph 7 buffer that measures 6.6 so I'm a bit unsettled with that, I need to replace all the buffers and speak to GT about shelf lifes of buffers.
Buffers and standards are one thing that must be absolutely 100% accurate or its back to ph paper lol.

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Star Dog said:

@PadawanWarrior is KCI stable for long periods, if I make a litre or two say will I be able to use it all, or does it have a limited shelf life?

I've some old ph 7 buffer that measures 6.6 so I'm a bit unsettled with that, I need to replace all the buffers and speak to GT about shelf lifes of buffers.
Buffers and standards are one thing that must be absolutely 100% accurate or its back to ph paper lol.

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DCcan said:

I found this, which I didn't know before. Higher PH goes bad faster.
For what we do, we can probably use it longer, its not for a research paper.
Just good to know it's not set in stone, using some paper strips to test for expiration seems like a good idea.

Does pH solution go bad?
The liquid solutions will go south over time. The powders should be good forever until they are dissolved. Any of the solutions, especially pH 10 will pick up CO2 from the air over time if they aren't sealed well making them not last as long. In general, expiration dates on calibration fluids are desirable.
Unopened buffers typically have a shelf life of 2 years, opened buffers 3 – 6 months and alkaline buffers (pH 10 or higher) 1 month, as their pH changes noticeably through contact with carbon dioxide in the air

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DCcan said:

I found this, which I didn't know before. Higher PH goes bad faster.
For what we do, we can probably use it longer, its not for a research paper.
Just good to know it's not set in stone, using some paper strips to test for expiration seems like a good idea.

Does pH solution go bad?
The liquid solutions will go south over time. The powders should be good forever until they are dissolved. Any of the solutions, especially pH 10 will pick up CO2 from the air over time if they aren't sealed well making them not last as long. In general, expiration dates on calibration fluids are desirable.
Unopened buffers typically have a shelf life of 2 years, opened buffers 3 – 6 months and alkaline buffers (pH 10 or higher) 1 month, as their pH changes noticeably through contact with carbon dioxide in the air

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PadawanWarrior said:

Good to know. That's just the pH buffering stuff though correct. The KCl isn't included is it?

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DCcan said:

I didn't look at that, don't know actually. I doubt its as unstable.

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Star Dog said:

I keep my ph meters in solution because that's me I can't help it, precision tools need proper maintenance.
But, in the instruction manual it says storage solution is not necessary, just rinse with pure water, it goes on to say if the bulb does dry out soak in KCI for 20 mins to overnight the longer the better?

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DCcan said:

It's not necessary for long term storage, so if you use it rarely, rinse with RO , dry it, put away.
It's just not practical to do that daily, who wants to wait 20 minutes before turning it on?
You definitely don't want to put it away wet for a couple months, the water will dry up and leave the salt solution encrusting the probe .

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PadawanWarrior said:

Just saw your signature. Nice to see a fellow troll around.

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Can Anyone Identify This Fungus?

This is not nutrient deficiency.

www.thcfarmer.com

DCcan said:

They got madder and madder when I told them its not a fungus, its poisoned. 4 other folks at another website may have finally convinced them its just poisoned, roots are fried and now overwatered from flushing.
Started with attitude over there too. Still in denial

Can Anyone Identify This Fungus?

This is not nutrient deficiency.

www.thcfarmer.com

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DCcan said:

It's not necessary for long term storage, so if you use it rarely, rinse with RO , dry it, put away.
It's just not practical to do that daily, who wants to wait 20 minutes before turning it on?
Turning it on dry ruins the ceramic reference electrode, i think
You definitely don't want to put it away wet for a couple months, the water will dry up and leave the salt solution encrusting the electrode .

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Star Dog said:

That makes sense right enough, that answers my question then, thanks.

I've been caught out with long term storage problems, I had a break from growing and when I went to the ph tester the fluid had evaporated leaving a crust around the probe... Oh no!
Lesson learned lol

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PadawanWarrior said:

My BlueLab Soil Pen says to keep solution in the cap all the time. It has a rubber o-ring so it shouldn't dry out.

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PJ Diaz said:

KCI storage solution is pretty cheap and you really only need like 3 drops in the cap each time you finish using your ph meter. I thought about making my own some months ago when Renfro posted that thread, but decided it was simpler to just buy the $12 solution that will last me at least a year, instead of the $20 bag of water softener that would last me a lifetime.

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PadawanWarrior said:

Funny man. You gotta love those guys that ask for help, but already know more than everyone else. I'd think pH or nutes too. Who are you over there? Are you Aqua Man?
Some fool called a group of us trolls here one day, so we all changed our avatars to trolls, lol.

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DCcan said:

Same, if I had a canopy crop with pumps, dosing and sensors, I'd make a batch. I just don't want to store the unused bag for ten years, mostly.

"not telling you about nutrients, its a fungus!"
I dont post there, I just stumbled on it by chance and laughed again, I'll drop the tag soon.
Aquaman is awesome at telling the plant history, as well as correct diagnosis by a picture.

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