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How often do you need to calibrate ph meters

Don't waste your money on ph test pen. Just get the drops to test it. Yeah the nutrients change the color but when you add the ph testing drops it changes the color according to you ph levels at least for me it's easier and since I started using drops instead of my pen I've had no deficiencys.. the run off from my plant comes out pretty clear and when I test it the ph is where I want it which means my initial ph test is where I want it which means the drops are giving me the correct reading even with off colored nutrient water.. so if you ask me a 10 oz bottle of drops on amzon is $10 and the pen over 100 and you still have to but solution to store it re calibrate in other words a never ending expense just as if you where using drops except the drops are cheaper and no maintenance necessary.. I say why make it more work than you need.. my 2 cents..
 
That's crazy! Could you get it online? Mine was a bit over 100 here in Aus but due to currency conversion that works out to be about 74-75US$
 
The cap can be a bit tight sometimes, I could see that some people may have a bit of an issue getting it off if they don't have a great deal of physical or grip strength for whatever reason. Once it's off for the first time though someone could store the probe in a shot glass or something similar full of storage solution and never have to put the cap on and take it off again.
The not holding calibration comments surprise me,Mine holds calibration great, mine wasn't used for 7 months (kept in storage solution though) and after all that time without calibration it was still spot on with the 4.0 solution and only 0.1 above the 7.0 before I recalibrated to start this grow
 
Can you post a photo of a jug of your nutrient solution? There's no way I'd be able to use test strips with the colour of mine. Even the runoff is coloured.
 
I've had it half submerged in a jug of water no problems. Not willing to put the whole thing under water to test its waterproofing but I'm pretty confident if I dropped it in the bucket of water it would be fine. Probably not for hours and hours but until it was grabbed out shouldn't create a problem
 
When I broke mine, zi found that using the liquid drops w nutes was impossible, I was meticulous and still had a ph issue in the week to getting the new pen.
 
I would but my seedlings are only one week old I won't be using nutrients until at least another 2 weeks. But I can describe it which at first it's clear obviously because it's just water then after nutrients it looks off color like muddy water looks when your in a lake and kick up the mud. Like it's full of dirt.. Then I pour water in the test tube add 3 drops and the water goes from muddy water color to either yellow,green,dark green,red ,orange, I think even blue green is one of the colors it can change to but since I'm in soil I go for yellow which is like between 6.0 and 7.0.. when I was using my pen i had yellowing on my leaves and deficiencies that are caused by bad ph level and now with my drops I'm on point.. beautiful green maybe some light burn from too much nutes but that's another story nothing to do with ph.. plus like I said it's cheaper just buy the drops versus buying a pen and solutions for maintenance..
 
Also my runoff is offcolored but like I said the drops change the color according to you ph level.. maybe you are using something different because you said test strips I'm using test drops.. if you are putting some type of white strip into the water I can see how it can stain the strip but on pure water it's easy at first I had a hard time reading it so I bought the pen but then I realized all the maintenance so I went back to my drops.. This is only my 3rd official grow so I'm just sharing my little experience.. Nebula Haze has a tutorial video on how to ph test you water and if you looks at her jug it looks like she is gonna water her plants with iced tea that how stained the water is and she tests with the drops no problem.. check it out..
 
Sorry, I meant drops. I've used both test strips and drops for years with aquariums which worked great.
Might get some to compare since I no longer have fish but I reckon the colour of the nute solution would throw off the colour of the ph test.
 
I'ma definitely order overseas for my next grow. It'll still be cheaper, even with delivery costs.
Just waiting to get this grow under my belt before pumping out any more money on accessories. I got some sweet auto seeds on the wait for my 2nd grow. YYYYYYEEEEEEESSSS BABY! :)
 
Thanks OZ. I believe I will get the BluLab. I've always used the drops, but have always had issues with my plants. This is the first grow I've done with a pen and it's been perfect so far. In my case I've had a hard time determine the color with the drops accurately. Type of daylight out side, what lights I had on in the house, what glasses I was wearing, etc. all seem to change the color - no matter what I did.
 
I've seen Nebulas video, my nutrient solution gets quite darker than that due to using the full GH line instead of just the trio as there's a few quite dark coloured supplements including Floralicious Plus and FloraBlend
 
so I ended up buying a new pen from my local grow store its not a blue lab but they stopped carrying the Hanna because it was junk so I picked up the one they use so far so good
 
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