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ID jit
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Recommedation on a pH and moisture meter ???

Will be growing strawberries in containers and am looking for a good pH and moisture meter.

Looked around on line, but can't really read threw the advertising and hype. Not looking for lab grade kind of stuff, but want to avoid the "well, its about close enough" type. Also looking for one that I won't have to replace regularly.

Any suggestions on a meter that is reliable, reasonably accurate and has a decent service life?

Thanks much.

PaulF
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In my opinion, there is no such thing as a cheap, good pH meter. The closest you are going to get is one costing several hundred dollars. Like you say, reliable, accurate with decent life expectancy is what is lacking on low priced models. I might suggest litmus papers as being closer to your needs. Hate to be a bah humbug, but you get what you pay for in this and most other instrumentation for the casual gardener.

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rainbowgardener
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Well, depending on your standards --


I have one about like this:

Image

that you can get for $15

May not be lab quality, but it gives consistent results that match with what I know, e.g. in my previous location I knew I had alkaline soil, by what would and would not grow there. When I got the meter it read between 7.5 and 8.5 depending on where on the property I tested. I know people that have two of them and say they give identical results when tested in the same spot.

What you need to do is be sure the soil is damp; stick the probes down 6" or so into the soil and let them sit for maybe 5 minutes. That gives you the best chance of getting a decent result.

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ID jit
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PaulF wrote:In my opinion, there is no such thing as a cheap, good pH meter. The closest you are going to get is one costing several hundred dollars. Like you say, reliable, accurate with decent life expectancy is what is lacking on low priced models. I might suggest litmus papers as being closer to your needs. Hate to be a bah humbug, but you get what you pay for in this and most other instrumentation for the casual gardener.
I hear you. There is a big difference between cheap and inexpensive in my world. Over heard a friend's grandfather advising him once. "Sasha, we are too poor to buy cheap things. Listen to him and buy the good brakes for your car and take care of them and make them last." Sasha's grandfather, Yuri, was an old, Soviet era Russian. Funny part of it was that Yuri understood I was suggesting a track worthy brake set up for his grandson's car.

Sad part is I just don't care enough nor see enough use of the tool to justify buying a multi hundred dollar tool.
rainbowgardener wrote: Image
Have a name, model, part number or link for that meter?

Sounds like it is close to what I am looking for. I do not need spot on accuracy and am planning on doing a filtrate test with an aquarium style test kit which I am very familiar with as a double check. Between the two I should be able to get a good ball park idea of what the pH of the soil is. Just need to get over the idea of purchasing a potentially disposable tool.

Thanks for the replies.

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rainbowgardener
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just do a search on soil pH meter. There's a ton of them and I have no idea if one brand is better than another. I'd watch out for the ones that sell for $5 instead of $15. Be sure it has long probes as pictured.

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ID jit
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I googled the hell out of pH / moisture meters before I started this thread. I found multiple examples of what appears to be the same meter being sold from $5 to +$20. Things I can't find out about most meters is if the batteries are replacable and are the batteries a common type of some next to impossible type to find. None of them list a margin of error for the readings.

I just hate feeling like an uneducated consumer, hate making even small purchases blind, and I don't trust "reviews" much, but that is an entirely different story.

??? https://www.gearbest.com/testers-detecto ... Au3n8P8HAQ

imafan26
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I have used the pH meter Rainbow has in the picture. It is pretty accurate. I test my soil and the pH is close. However, remember that it is actually measuring the solution around the soil and not the soil itself. When the lab does the test, they would be using distilled water which is neutral. If your water is not neutral then it would be higher or lower. Your plants would probably be watered using the same water, so the difference is moot.

If you are planting in containers anyway, all you really have to do is use acidic ingredients in your container. Strawberries are do not need the extremely acidic conditions that something like blueberries need (pH 3). Strawberries are fine in pH 5.5-6.5, and most plants are happy with that. Avoid wood ashes, dolomite lime (unless your soil is very acid), chicken manure, and very alkaline composts and you should do o.k. Peat moss is acidic, even the ones that have been conditioned are usually only conditioned to a pH of around 6.0. Using an acidic fertilizer like citrus food, rose food, or miracle grow for acid loving plants rather than chicken manure which has added calcium. Calcium is fed to laying hens to make stronger eggshells, and it is high in chicken manures.

Strawberries like a loam soil so drainage is important. 40% coarse sand, 30% peat moss, 30% silt or organic matter. Strawberries do not need a lot of nitrogen when making berries only when they are running so keep nitrogen low, under 10%
Or use slow nitrogen fertilizers. If your soil is acidic, most animal manures are alkaline and a good way to raise pH of acidic soils. Poultry manures are the richest and dairy manure is the next best because it contains fewer weed seeds. Steer, swine, and horse manures usually have more salt and weeds. All manures should be composted first. Most aerobic composts are also alkaline since most of the nitrogen in the compost was depleted during the composting process. Anaerobic composts like peat moss are acidic.

Organic matter tends to make the soil behave neutrally even if the pH is higher or lower. I would not worry too much about getting the soil perfect. While pH does matter, most plants can adapt and strawberries like a pH that most plants prefer anyway.

The best would be to use one of the recipes that have been tested for soil mixes and plant the strawberries. If you want to tweak it more you can have the mix tested by your local extension service and get recommendations for amending it specifically for strawberries.
https://www.finegardening.com/potting-soil-recipes
https://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardeni ... ting-media
https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garde ... il-recipes
Then there is the tried and true Mel's Mix that has stood the test of time. You just have to make sure the compost is of good quality.
https://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/mels-mix/

I do use MG potting soil because it works for me as a starter. I do add more perlite to it to improve drainage. Moisture control just kills my plants but it might be o.k. for someone who controls all their watering and does not get any rain. All potting mixes are not created equal and the compost based potting mixes are the worse ones I have had.
https://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/P ... ottmix.htm

I usually mix my own mix and buy peat moss in 3.8 cu ft bales, perlite in 4 cu ft bales, and osmocote or apex for slow release fertilizer. I can make a custom mix by changing the ratio of peat moss and perlite to fit the way I water and the needs of the plant and they type of pot I use. Plastic pots need less water than terra cotta. Succulents need even less peat moss than most plants. I do add vermicast to the potting mix when I have it. It does not seem to bother the mix when a couple of handfuls are added. I cannot say the same of other composts. Even in the garden I don't add more than 2-3 inches at a time. Some people do add dolomite lime to the mix, but most of my plants are acid loving so I only add it if the plants are not growing well or if I am growing plants I know likes alkaline conditions like baby's breath or lavender. Plants that like akaline conditions usually also like to dry out between watering so I plant a lot of the succulents and gray leafed plants in cinder and rocks.



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