I have meter for testing the soil but i wouldn't bet a piece of year-old-chewing gum that it's accurate. That's why the experiment. Usually by the time i've re-run the runoff through a few times the pH will be at 6.1 or lower. By the time i've watered, ferted and watered again the runoff will come out about 5.9pH, and that's going in at 6.5 - 6.7 every time. I'm gonna try it just for shits-and-grins. Heck, i may even be on to something that'll work for me. The first sign of a problem is the hard purple stems and the runoff comes out low. As many years as i've been screwing up and still using the same soil i think it's worth a try.