Meters pH readings and Strawberries

[Mollisol]

Hey all,

So, ive been down the road of shitty $15 meters. I bought an Aspera and calibrated per instructions.

I used store bought distilled water to flush the meter. The distilled water would read 8-8.4. Distilled water should read 7.0.

So I figured i was a point or more high. And adjusted my pH according. This led to low soil pH

I calibrated the meter several times. And it was usually close to the control solutions. I'm going to have to trust the meter. It just messed me up that "distilled "water was not just that.

[Bluey]

You cannot measure the pH of distilled water with an Apera PH60. You need a meter costing 4 times that. You cannot measure rainwater with it. It needs salts etc in the solution to get an accurate reading.

Distilled water will destroy your probe if exposed to it for longer than a rinse to clean it. Then always shake dry and store in storage solution that should read a pH of exactly 4.00.

The instructions should have indicated that.

[Mollisol]

Ok. I didn't know that. The distilled water is just for rinsing. I keep the meter in storage solution.

[Need2Know]

I read how to make distilled water. Put a small pan in a big pan part filled with water. Put the big pan lid on upside down so that the top handle is pointing down in the middle of the pot. Bring to boil. Put ice on the top of the upside down lid. The steam will condensate and fall into the small pan. That's needed info here in the UK where distilled water is hard to find, although de-ionized water for batteries isn't.