Fed up with PH meters

Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Jimdamick said:
Hey Doc,
One of the many things I love about herb, beside the product, is the fact that you never really stop learning. Each day I learn something new, try a little tweek here and there to test ideas, and hopefully improve my skills and crop. It never gets boring and the better you get at it, the better your product, which in my case translates into more money and a better buzz. Another cool thing about growing are sites like this one, which in my viewpoint is the best out there, where you have the opportunity to discuss and learn things from dinosaurs like you, who have grown bud since the dawn of time it seems.
So thanks for the info and the opportunity to share thoughts on what is best for the plants. Peace to you brother, and Happy Growing! (I'll bet my herb is better than yours)
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Now that, is the happy laugh of the day!!!! :clap::lol::clap:.....Is it really important? (I got a Blue cheese that goes over 23% and the original Chem clone and the Ghost cut OG hit over 25% regularly)......Maybe more fun to trade some samples and get blunt eh?

Lord it has been a long time! The library of notes is taking over my computer room....Memories, the memories, ah yes....

Thanks for the positive posting!

Grow on!

Doc
 
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Jimdamick

Jimdamick

Well-Known Member
LetsGetCritical said:
yes, hey Jim tell me ,my DP Powerplant is throwing baby bananas @9wks I want to let her go at least another week will that be ok?
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Sorry, but you have a hermie if you see those. There are 2 main reasons that a plant goes hermi, one being stress and the other being genetics. You will have seeds from that plant, and if it was a stress issue ( heat, too much food or PH issues) you will have usable seeds, though they will not be all female as some claim (been there). If you grew the plant in good conditions, then it is genetic and the seeds are usless. Sorry
 
LetsGetCritical

LetsGetCritical

Well-Known Member
Jimdamick said:
Sorry, but you have a hermie if you see those. There are 2 main reasons that a plant goes hermi, one being stress and the other being genetics. You will have seeds from that plant, and if it was a stress issue ( heat, too much food or PH issues) you will have usable seeds, though they will not be all female as some claim (been there). If you grew the plant in good conditions, then it is genetic and the seeds are usless. Sorry
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no seeds just tiny baby bananas popping up in the last few days
 
Sativied

Sativied

Well-Known Member
Not going to get viable seeds in a week anyway. The immature ones are more annoying though. It will take days to a week before the nanners produce actual powdery pollen, often they are sterile. Just remove the nanners, unless there are a lot, if that's the case cut parts like it's rot.
 
bicit

bicit

Well-Known Member
Estrange said:
I'm sick of having to constantly calibrate and fuck around with my PH meter, I just want one that works, that will work for atleast 6 months without having to replace pieces....

What do you guys do? Why do PH meters suck so bad?
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Get a quality unit for once. I spent $200 on a Hanna meter about 4 years ago. Similar to this model LINK. It's still kicking through 4 years of abuse. It was neglected, driven hard and put away wet. Only had to replace the probe once and that's because I dropped it. An assistant once dropped it to the bottom of a 45 gallon reservoir, the screen bugged out and I though it was toast. Put it in a jar of rice for a week, recalibrated it, and now it's still working strong. I think it's only required calibration about 4 times total, including the times the probe and unit were dropped.

So if you're abusive, maybe look into a hanna? Grab some indicator solution to use as a backup/calibration check. I know there are other quality units out there, but I'm not familiar with them. Basically the idea is, either go cheap and dirty with indicator solution, or pony up and buy a quality unit.

Or if you're feeling adventurous you could always buy the probes and interface it with an arduino. Get a constant reading system that texts you periodically if you're anal retentive like that. You could even get nutrient specific probes to report specific element concentrations and even interface them with some peristaltic pumps to go full automation status.

Whoops on a tangent.
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
Dr. Who said:
Ok, I see your point on Hydrated - to a point.....There are other things besides those I listed and I don't use Dolomite near as much as most, and I never use prilled Dolo. I feel Dolo is too high in Mg and use only 50% or less (your right, it's for down the road, reused, re-amended soil)....Powdered will help faster but still not my ball of wax.....

I simply have a problem with hydrated as being so fast...MANY around here don't understand that - they have NEVER gardened before.....Very easy to get Ca tox fast
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AFAIK it is much more common to find dolomitic limestone, which has something between 6-12% magnesium. Relatively pure dolomite lime would be roughly 50% magnesium carbonate (more likely around 45%), which would contain about 14% magnesium.

Calcium hydroxide is easier to over apply and doesn't last in soil as long as pulverized limestone or eggshell would.
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Nullis said:
AFAIK it is much more common to find dolomitic limestone, which has something between 6-12% magnesium. Relatively pure dolomite lime would be roughly 50% magnesium carbonate (more likely around 45%), which would contain about 14% magnesium.

Calcium hydroxide is easier to over apply and doesn't last in soil as long as pulverized limestone or eggshell would.
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A lot of the Organic (local made here) Nutrient supplies I can find are Ag Lime (Dolo) and the prilled is just that....compressed Ag lime.....I called the company.....The concentrations are right along the lines you give too..

The Dolomitic Limestone seems to be getting harder and harder to find - around me anyway.

Thanks for adding that

Doc
 
Benelli

Benelli

Well-Known Member
Great read...minus all the BS debate, but hey that happens with just about every post.

I must say, i've been at it for a 'few' years now and have been through a couple meters. But like most say, it is a pain in the ass imo to check ph every time. I use dolo lime, i over confuse myself and overthink everything and act too quickly. I grow in soil and think I might give it a try side by side to see for myself.
thanks to all.
 
noob12345

noob12345

Well-Known Member
feeling your pain right about now, this stupid ADWA ph meter has fucked a couple of my grows now, calibrate it and straight away it jumps to +1 or whatever! I have been posting shit about slow growth in my RDWC etc and it turns out to be this stupid pen!
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Estrange said:
I've bought 3 PH meters now, granted I got the less expensive digital ones, (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LNSEZH2/ref=s9_cartx_gw_d8_g328_i6?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0VAMSDPD6DTRPDM2K70V&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2118394622&pf_rd_i=desktop) and another by Elekticity.

They've all pretty quickly quit working properly, even with regular calibration.
It seems like a total bitch to keep having to replace them
So I then decided I'd buy a good one (thinking on this unit)
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PD2N8Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=A2UF33ZOMUKZ9G)
but it seems like the electrode is still prone to failure.

I'm sick of having to constantly calibrate and fuck around with my PH meter, I just want one that works, that will work for atleast 6 months without having to replace pieces....

What do you guys do? Why do PH meters suck so bad?
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Grow in organic soil and toss your ph meter in the trash...
 
Havoc0122

Havoc0122

Active Member
Estrange said:
While fox farms ocean forest (my preferred soil) is buffered, it is still important to PH the water, as ultimately the soil will adapt the ph of the water running through it.
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Not if you redress/uppot with fresh soil. Months later I still get about 6.5 soil pH.
 
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