Anyone ever use one of these before?

I bought this PH/Fertility tester today and it seems to be pretty accurate. I have tested with my normal methods of testing which is one of those water, soil, or what ever you are testing shakers. And I get around the same reading as I do with the new electronic meter.

The fertility check also seems to work. It reads how much P-N-K is in the soil and gives you a reading. not enough, ideal, or to high.

I was feeding one plant water only. Tested it and it said to little. I added the mix come feeding time and it changed to ideal. So it seems to work pretty well. Good way to test when the nutes have been depleted in the soil.

The only downfall is is that it does not work with water. Only works in the soil. But you have to make sure your pots are big enough so that the prongs don't hit the roots. So I go down as far as I can and with success so far.

I am loving this thing. Seems to work pretty good. Just need and electronic water meter now so I can test before watering and the run off.

Heres a pic of the device.

Let me know if anyone else has used and if they had success with it.

oh and heres some updated pics of my growing kids.

some have a little difficiency. First grow and all but I figured out the problem hopefully and it has been corrected.

Looks real nice so far. Congrats.

When you get your water PH test kit please let us know how the two devices compare. I've been told not to buy tester you have because the water run off test is more accurate. Sounds like it's working for you.

I'm looking forward to when they come out with one that you stick in soil or water and it says something like, "The reason your leaves are curling is because the PH is 4.7 and the PPM is 1940." or "Your nutrients have a Magnesium deficiency." or "Your cousin peed in the reservoir."

Throw that thing away. When I first started growing i used one of those and thought everything was hunky-dory. Then all sorts of shit happened. What was the kicker for me was that I would stick that piece of shit in all different soils and it would read the same. Half my plants were locked up.
They sell ones that look the same but read moisture-those work pretty well.
Invest in a 50 dollar digital pen, get some 4 and 7 ph calibration solution and never look back.

if i may suggest something, that tin foil you have in there is not going to help ya. It will produce hot spots and potentially kill your plants. IMHO, i would remove it and keep the white that you have on those walls which are plastic. If you wanted something more reflective get yourself some mylar.

The tester you have is a piece of crap, doesnt read the ph correctly, get yourself a digital pH tester or borrow one from someone and look at the different reads. The best thing to do is to test and see which is best for you. I found that the digital testers are best and those needle ones are junk.

Your gonna need to get a fan in there, the reason you have those stakes is cause the main stem is not strong enough to hold them up on thier own. The fan will stimulate the main stem and it will get strong enough to hold it up on its own.

Im not sure how old they are, but if they are fairly young you could have the start of stretch working there, you might want to increase the amount of light that they are receiving.
Other than that i havent seen anything else that i would change but as i look around and find things i will let ya know..

Hope that helps

well I have tested this with my other ph tester and get the same readings with thn both. so it can't be that bad. I noticed though that the battery has to be at full power to work correctly. I do get diferent reading wth different soil. tested that aswell. with both my tests. there is a certain way to use them if used incorrectly you WILL get mix-mached results. use to work at a nusery and this is what they used. I seen one and bought it. either yours was garbage or wasn't calibrated correctly. have you looked at the one that you had and seen the calibration screws in the back? these do need to be adjuste and overall wrk well to get you in the ball park. I basically wanted it for the fertility test so I know when to feed.

so for me it works. but I still need a test for my water.

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

whatsthatsmell is right about the fan. Very important. Your branches need to be strong so that when it's time to hold up all that bud they won't break. Also the light. They are getting close to the point when you should move the light as close as possible, and get as much light in there as you can. Probably not quite yet though. Make sure you read up on the proper lights to use. Look at my explaination of "K" close to the bottom of this thread: http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...hing-mean.html

Keep those progress reports coming.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by whatsthatsmell

if i may suggest something, that tin foil you have in there is not going to help ya. It will produce hot spots and potentially kill your plants. IMHO, i would remove it and keep the white that you have on those walls which are plastic. If you wanted something more reflective get yourself some mylar.

The tester you have is a piece of crap, doesnt read the ph correctly, get yourself a digital pH tester or borrow one from someone and look at the different reads. The best thing to do is to test and see which is best for you. I found that the digital testers are best and those needle ones are junk.

Your gonna need to get a fan in there, the reason you have those stakes is cause the main stem is not strong enough to hold them up on thier own. The fan will stimulate the main stem and it will get strong enough to hold it up on its own.

Im not sure how old they are, but if they are fairly young you could have the start of stretch working there, you might want to increase the amount of light that they are receiving.
Other than that i havent seen anything else that i would change but as i look around and find things i will let ya know..

Hope that helps

---

Mylar can't be found in the area and every site that I went o was expensive as hell so I haven't bought any as of yet.

I am ready have a fan in there. The reason for the stretch was because of the first grow box I had them in. The light was to far away from the plants and they grew tall. The problem has been corrected about 1 week ago. and now most of the stakes have been removed. the stems are strengthening.

I have for lighting:

8 - compact florescents 23 watts each 100 watt equive.
4 - 17 watt 24" tubes T8 75 watt equive
2 - ultra thin floros T4 15" only 8 watts high output.

the compacts are 1600 lumens each. total of 16,000 lumens from my hood alone.

the 4 17 watt tubes i am not sure of and same for the ultra thin high outputs t4s

estimation is is around 20,000 lumens.

This is in a 4 square foot area 3.63 to be closer.

I have around 4,670 lumens per square foot and all around the correct spectrum.

This should be good for veg and bloom.

For the tester so far for me it shows promise and has been used in the nursery that I was employed at. Never had issues there just need to calibrate correctly.

Sorry I can't spell tonight - BAKED

Hmm...if that fertilizer analyzer actually works, I'd say that would be a good little gadget to keep around! I guess I'm still stuck in the stone age, as I still use litmus strips and chemical aquarium pH kits to test my water/runoff. Luckily, I rarely have problems with my pH. My tap water is always filtered, and my pH pretty much constantly hovers around 6.5.

Still, probably would hurt me to "get with the times" and invest in more of these nifty contraptions. If you get recurring accurate readings with that thing, please be sure to make a note of it & I'll have to keep my eye out for one!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Clandestine

If you get recurring accurate readings with that thing, please be sure to make a note of it & I'll have to keep my eye out for one!

---

Me too, even though that would go against everything I have been taught.