Hello Tools & Apps peeps!

I want to get the soil in my raised beds tested this spring. However, I'm curious if those ph Meters I've seen on various videos actually work. Does anyone have experience with them to know if they are accurate?

Thanks!
Thomas

I have used them but had no faith in the readings, so I just leave the thing hanging in the shed. My plants seemed to grow alright so I just accepted that.

My advice is very simple: if you are only going to use it once in a while or just want to see what the fuzz is all about, get a cheap one from China/Hong Kong/Singapore via eBay.
They are exactly the same as those sold in garden centers at several times the price. The only difference is the packaging.

This is a very nice one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi...
This is a very basic one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-In-...

If you then find you cannot live without one you can move to more expensive "professional" grade models, if you feel like you don't need one you haven't spent a whole lot of money.

Don't expect to just stick the probes in in the ground and get a reading if you do buy one. This is often how the adds portray it being used. Read the instructions on one before you buy.

ElPolloDiablo said:My advice is very simple: if you are only going to use it once in a while or just want to see what the fuzz is all about, get a cheap one from China/Hong Kong/Singapore via eBay.
They are exactly the same as those sold in garden centers at several times the price. The only difference is the packaging.

This is a very nice one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi...
This is a very basic one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-In-...

If you then find you cannot live without one you can move to more expensive "professional" grade models, if you feel like you don't need one you haven't spent a whole lot of money.

I may just go on a soil test. I'm thinking that I'll get each bed tested, though they are treated all the same so I'd expect the results to be similar. I just would like to see the pH of the berry beds as they like a lower pH. You're right I don't think I'd use it often and a soil test would give me more info.

thommesM said:

I may just go on a soil test. I'm thinking that I'll get each bed tested, though they are treated all the same so I'd expect the results to be similar. I just would like to see the pH of the berry beds as they like a lower pH. You're right I don't think I'd use it often and a soil test would give me more info.

My grandfather bought one of the first soil pHmeter when they became available in the early 80's. I think he used it less than a dozen times before it ended up being uncerimoniously hung in his storeroom.
The ultra-expensive soil test kit (NPK) he bought a few months later lasted even less before being relegated to the same room.
The morale of this story was "if it ain't broken, don't fix it".

Personally I've found the only plants that suffered due to soil unbalances were Lenten roses but once I realized they don't like acidic peat-based soils I had no problem growing them.

I firmly believe I need the ability to measure pH more frequently than once per year. I have tried pH test strips, color changing test kits, and different kinds of meters. I have tested the distilled water I was instructed to use and found it about 6 pH and the tap water which I find is 7 pH. Not one of the liquid oriented testing systems returned enough accuracy to be useful on a scale where each number is 10x different than the number above or below. There are 2 useful things to know about gardening pH, and I discovered them the hard way.

1) Liquid based pH tests are for liquids, not soil. The kind that require adding water are not useful in soil. Why? All my usage indicates they read less -H than exists, and this is probably because they dilute the sample with liquid. If you thin what you measure, you measure less of it.

2) Stick style meters work but only under 1 condition. Why? The 2
or so prongs measure electrical differences as a value. If you measure the soil when it is sopping wet you are not measuring the mass properly, the water has effectively "thinned" the -H relative to the Mass of soil by adding its own mass and throwing off your ratio. If the soil is too dry, the ability to conduct is going to go away and give a false reading as in not enough of a reading, a low energy reading or no reading at all, as dirt is a poor conductor and even acts as an insulator.

The most accurate readings I do at home is with stick meters at this time and occur the day after a NORMAL rain. The soil being moist but not wet. The instructions seem to universally fail to discuss the need for a moist soil content with a stick meter, which is a facepalm moment. I would like absolute accuracy, but because conductivity changes with evaporation and soil content of salts among some other things, frequent measuring provides a rolling average range for me which I find useful as amendments do not last forever.

Its not random that so many stick meters read moisture.

How is a PH meter calibrated at the factory? Is the gauge set to read the conductivity in dry ground..in wet ground...in ground that has been wet a certain amount? Was the reading on the scales already calibrated for a certain amount of moisture as per the instructions that come with the gauge. If you don't follow the instructions are you over compensating by thinking the reading has been "diluted"?
I don't know the answer, but it does seem the manufacturer would have made the calibration readings to adjust for the amount of water added to the soil per the instructions that come with it.
After reading this short article, I doubt any measurement with a "home garden" ph meter would be very accurate even under the best of conditions.
https://www.pthorticulture.com...

Burpee said this to a customer about the 3 prong meter that I have. Of course there were a bunch of folks posting reviews on the product that could not get it to work and this was responding to one of the posts:


We are sorry that you have experienced some challenges with your electronic soil tester. The tester does need to be completely clean before each use, and the soil must be warm and fairly moist. It takes several minutes to take the reading. It will not work in dry soil or in straight liquids. If you have tried it in these conditions, please contact our Customer Service team at 1-800-888-1447, or [email protected] so we can help.

Thank you for your feedback.

- Burpee

Now another lady went further, stating "to clean" meant rubbing and soaking the prongs in vinegar, and wait for the mild acid to cleanse the metal as acid does on metals. Here is her post, and I understand it to be speaking of oxidation on the probes of these inexpensive 10 and 20 dollar meters:

pantlady
· 5 years ago ph meter good meter if you do this
when i first got this meter i did the same thing as every body else and tested water and orange juice and the meter did not move at all so i purchased a digital meter and it did the same thing it would not read any thing other than 7 either even after cleaning the probe of both meters

here is what i have discovered the hard way when you stick these meters in water the probe absorbs some kind of mineral from the water making it not able to register either water or orange juice or any thing else

so here is the solution that i came up with clean your probe ends with a soft scrubby then insert it into viinager that cleans off the probe of all the contaminants on the probe leave it in the viniger till the meter reads about 4-4.2 it might take some time for the vinager to work you might have to use the soft scrubby several times before it works right again then you can test your soil and do not put it into a glass of water because that will contaminate the probe ends again so it will not read any thing

after that you will not have clean it again or to do any thing to the meter just stick it in the ground that cleans the probe automatically with the soil

bottom line "DON'T USE WATER TO TEST THESE METERS" also make sure your soil is moist use a water meter to measure the moisture before use because all these meters work of off the ability to transmit electricity through the soil and dry soil does not transmit electricity NOW BOTH MY METERS WORK and are pretty close to each other in readings.

End of her post.


So...I still do not trust them and that is why I have 3 - and they better agree when in use. Like thermometers you know? Ever been at the store and there is this 1 thermometer that is whacked out of range for some reason? I think these type pH meters are all about that thermometer grade of quality.