Testing soil ph/

[Algag]

I have little test tube and liquid which came with my nute kit for testing PH, not a PH meter. How would I go about properly checking the ph of my soil? Would testing the water drained from the bottom after watering be accurate?

Algag Reviewed by Algag on 12-28-2007. Testing soil ph/ I have little test tube and liquid which came with my nute kit for testing PH, not a PH meter. How would I go about properly checking the ph of my soil? Would testing the water drained from the bottom after watering be accurate? Rating: 5

[GaGrown]

With that kit you have,the water that comes out of the drain holes in the pot will read different than if you tested the soil. You will have 2 different ph readings. The run off is not the concern. It's what the soil has stored,that will give you the ph your looking for.Or reading.You really need a wand. Test the water you use before giving to the plant.5.4 to 5.8.Mine have gone a bit higher than that. I just water with plain ole' ph'd water from the tap that stood with the top off,to evaporate the chlorine.Hope this helped ya!

Ga Grown!

[texas grass]

for soil you want a ph range of 6.7-6.9
Web Gallery Wizard™
go to streaming videos link at top right of page then watch video on ph its very helpful

[Opie Yutts]

I have been told by several people that the water run off method is more accurate than the soil PH test kits. I hope they are right because that's what I've been going by. I have one of those test kits so perhaps I can test the two methods against each other.

For the run off method PH some water to 7 and flood your plant with it. Capture the first run off and check that with your liquid test kit. And buy a damn meter for $25. You cannot grow without it. Are you going to use the strips every time you water your plant?

Hydro: 5.55
Soil: 6.66
Real simple.

[Algag]

Opie Yutts it almost seems I offended you. But anyway, I bought a meter and it seems to work fine testing light and moisture but it reads between 7-8 from my plants. I water them with water fixed to 5.5-6 (yellow) tested with the liquid drops. Not sure which to believe. I'm going to try testing the run off during tomorrows watering. One other thing I did was stick the meter in the vial I used to test my water, which I added PH Up to for testing. The water was orange so around 4-5 or so and the meter still read around 7. I am not sure if this is because it is not meant for testing water or its faulty or what. I spent 10 bucks on the meter so this could be the problem. Let me know if anyone has any more input. This is my first grow and I kinda got off to a rough start having some trouble getting the watering right and light positioned. The plants are now doing pretty well and I want to tackle this PH issue before something happens.

[Opie Yutts]

Algag, sorry for sounding so rough. You didn't offend me. I just get perturbed when I see people constantly saying that they can't afford a PH meter. PH is the single most important consideration. If it is off a little, your plants can easily die. That's not nearly as likely to happen if your lights or ventilation or moisture quantity is off a little.

I got a great deal on a 600W digital ballast and cool tube, and my aeroponics set up is coming in the mail as we speak. The bad news is I can't afford to spend money on something as insignificant as a PH meter, so I hope you guys are really willing to spend a bunch of time helping me diagnose my problems when they come up.

I've been told several times that the $10 PH meters that you stick in the soil are not very accurate. There are some that are, but these are around $90. I almost bought one awhile back. I would get an inexpensive (or expensive) PH pen and test your solution each time you water, and the run off every month or two. Once you get it down a little and you know what materials will do what, then you don't have to check as often.