Ph, Ppm, Brix, Sap Ph... It's Time For New Meters.

[bibbles]

I've had a Hanna combo meter for about five years, but I'm coming up on needing to replace the pH electrode again, and I think it's time to upgrade; figured I could run my thoughts by you guys, and maybe get some suggestions. :D

1. The HALO® Wireless Soil pH Meter should work just fine in aqueous solutions, but also allow me to test the pH in my coco directly, while the automatic logging, et al, sounds convenient.

2. The Soil Test™ Direct Soil EC Tester should, likewise, work both in aqueous solutions and directly in coco.

3. A Digital Refractometer would allow me to track my brix levels with relative ease, making it easier to maintain plant health.

4. A Plant Sap pH Meter would, likewise, aid in maintaining healthy plants by providing super early deficiency detection. This could reasonably replace the nutrient pH meter as well.

I never really messed with the pH in my coco before, but after a recent tragedy it seems like a good option to have on hand, especially as the switch to Blumats sounds like I'll be getting next to no runoff, and runoff isn't that accurate in coco to begin with; this is also why I'm looking at an EC meter which can work in both solution and substrate. Being able to track brix sounds fun more than anything, but getting more information on plant health than what I can see with my eyes sounds good; the other pH meter offers internal health information as well, but I'm not really interested in doing the number of slurry tests that pots will make necessary. Though, perhaps the switch to pots may actually reduce the importance of this, since you can actually flush them and stuff, unlike beds, and I'll be replacing instead of reusing coco...

So, I guess the biggest question would be coco pH versus sap pH, but any ideas, thoughts, input, whatever! :)

 

[leadsled]

The sap ph meter can also be used to check the ph of your feed, coco coir in addition to the plant sap. IF you want to have a meter for checking the soil and then one for the nutrient and sap, then two meter works. But could spend the extra money on a infrared thermometer.

Digital Refractometer will not show you a a fuzzy line like a standard refractometer does. Fuzzy line via standard refractometer can also be used as an indication that there is sufficient minerals in the plant sap.
That will save you some money and still are good on meters. EC meter is good to have and to check.

If you want to test sap, then you need some way to press sap out of the leaves. I like the vice grips from pike agriculture.

 

[bibbles]

I'm only planning on getting one of the pH meters, I just don't love the idea of doing a slurry test for each plant since I'm making the switch to pots; convenience versus more information.

I've seen the fuzzy versus clear line thing mentioned, but I'm not entirely sure what it means; I believe someone, possibly you, said a clear line indicates a deficiency in calcium? I'm assuming this is the line you see on the scale? Either way, less money for more information sounds like a winner.

Any recommendations for infrared thermometers? With prices between $10 and $1,000 without any meaningful distinction made... that'll be an adventure for later tonight.

 

[leadsled]

Excellent. No way to measure sap with a normal ph meter. If testing sap can solely do brix but you get a better picture of what is going down if you know the ph.
Yes clear line is lack of calcium.
The cheap infrared thermometer is fine. 20-25 bucks.
If you want to get fancy and also measure RH and dew point etc. Can get a EXTECh HD500 for around 250.00

 

[bibbles]

I have a Titan Controls Saturn 6 and hang the probe (temp/rh/co2) in my canopy, so... while I'm sure a laser, et al, would provide more accurate information, I'm good on this front for now; plus, I assume the Saturn 6 can log information as well, there's a cable/software package, but I've never found any information on what it does.

*calls Sunlight Supply* Someone from Titan will call me back, and then I will finally know! :D

Oh, and I assume optical refractometers are probably only going to vary in the quality of the housing, et al, no reason to get one of the more expensive ones, yeah?

 

[bibbles]

Say, is there any benefit to testing plant sap EC? Because LAQUA has an EC meter which can do this, and if I've gotta make slurries for the pH, I'm not saving any kind of time with the in-soil probe; in fact, the most efficient plan probably involves these two and a rack of test tubes.

 

[Herb Forester]

Yeah the cheap IR thermometer will probably pay for itself and a full set of the others soon after :borg: Sap pH is neat too, and helps correlate brix.

I've neglected my brix meter lately, the cheap optical one works well. @leadsled bet my Ron-Co arbor press will kick your vise grips' ass? Plus it can make rosin and squeeze vegetable pulp, or even make homemade cubic zirconias :woot:

 

[bibbles]

Would an IR meter really be a significant improvement over the in-canopy sensor? I mean, I understand the benefit of knowing the leaf temperature itself, but that's going to depend on the individual leaf's location and depth in the canopy, so... the sensor seems like it would be a good approximation of the average I'd find.

 

[Two.Bears]

I've had a Hanna combo meter for about five years, but I'm coming up on needing to replace the pH electrode again, and I think it's time to upgrade; figured I could run my thoughts by you guys, and maybe get some suggestions. :D

1. The HALO® Wireless Soil pH Meter should work just fine in aqueous solutions, but also allow me to test the pH in my coco directly, while the automatic logging, et al, sounds convenient.

2. The Soil Test™ Direct Soil EC Tester should, likewise, work both in aqueous solutions and directly in coco.

3. A Digital Refractometer would allow me to track my brix levels with relative ease, making it easier to maintain plant health.

4. A Plant Sap pH Meter would, likewise, aid in maintaining healthy plants by providing super early deficiency detection. This could reasonably replace the nutrient pH meter as well.

I never really messed with the pH in my coco before, but after a recent tragedy it seems like a good option to have on hand, especially as the switch to Blumats sounds like I'll be getting next to no runoff, and runoff isn't that accurate in coco to begin with; this is also why I'm looking at an EC meter which can work in both solution and substrate. Being able to track brix sounds fun more than anything, but getting more information on plant health than what I can see with my eyes sounds good; the other pH meter offers internal health information as well, but I'm not really interested in doing the number of slurry tests that pots will make necessary. Though, perhaps the switch to pots may actually reduce the importance of this, since you can actually flush them and stuff, unlike beds, and I'll be replacing instead of reusing coco...

So, I guess the biggest question would be coco pH versus sap pH, but any ideas, thoughts, input, whatever! :)

I've had a Hanna combo meter for about five years, but I'm coming up on needing to replace the pH electrode again, and I think it's time to upgrade; figured I could run my thoughts by you guys, and maybe get some suggestions. :D

1. The HALO® Wireless Soil pH Meter should work just fine in aqueous solutions, but also allow me to test the pH in my coco directly, while the automatic logging, et al, sounds convenient.

2. The Soil Test™ Direct Soil EC Tester should, likewise, work both in aqueous solutions and directly in coco.

3. A Digital Refractometer would allow me to track my brix levels with relative ease, making it easier to maintain plant health.

4. A Plant Sap pH Meter would, likewise, aid in maintaining healthy plants by providing super early deficiency detection. This could reasonably replace the nutrient pH meter as well.

I never really messed with the pH in my coco before, but after a recent tragedy it seems like a good option to have on hand, especially as the switch to Blumats sounds like I'll be getting next to no runoff, and runoff isn't that accurate in coco to begin with; this is also why I'm looking at an EC meter which can work in both solution and substrate. Being able to track brix sounds fun more than anything, but getting more information on plant health than what I can see with my eyes sounds good; the other pH meter offers internal health information as well, but I'm not really interested in doing the number of slurry tests that pots will make necessary. Though, perhaps the switch to pots may actually reduce the importance of this, since you can actually flush them and stuff, unlike beds, and I'll be replacing instead of reusing coco...

So, I guess the biggest question would be coco pH versus sap pH, but any ideas, thoughts, input, whatever! :)

How about the liquid ph test. I prefer the liquid over the meter i bought

 

[bibbles]

A number of the things I feed have too much color for liquid tests, and while I don't think I'd have the lack of juice problem people seem to have in terms of paper tests for sap pH, perhaps the fact that I get soaked when defoliating is a problem, perhaps things shouldn't be that juicy...

 

[bibbles]

And, no offense, but I feel like those that are happier with liquid and paper tests simply find it easier to be wrong, whereas with a meter you know you're that tiny bit off, so you try to correct for it... you over correct, etc. :/

 

[Herb Forester]

In-canopy sensor just tells you about the air (and IR from the lights if it's not shielded). I meant using the gun for spot-analysis as you described.