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What is the best pH water tester?

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Monitoring the pH of your hydroponic or soil solution is the best way to ensure you have healthy crops and happy plants!

Finding a best pH water tester will help you to determine the nutrients that are available to your plants, and it will also allow you to monitor whether your plants prefer acidic or alkaline soils.

Most plants succeed with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5; we recommend that you stick to the safe zone, which is 6.2.

Ease of Use

It’s essential to acknowledge your growing skill level and that you understand how easy your digital device will be to use.

The instructions in the user manual will help if they’re bright, but the instrument’s design will decide their ease of use.

A big, clear LCD screen will make it easy to measure the values. You should be able to read the values regardless of sunlight and viewing angle.

Backlit LCD screens allow you to do testing even in poor light.

It should also be easy to toggle from one parameter to another since lots of digital pH meters more than just the acidity and alkalinity of water.

You should be able to obtain a reading in minutes, with some expensive models providing a reading in seconds.

Lightweight devices are easy to operate in one hand so you can immerse the electrode into your solution and wait for the reading to stabilize.

You can increase the ease of portability and storage by investing in a carry case for convenience!

Reliability

Slight variations in pH can affect the quality of the composition being tested; this is why the margin of error should be very narrow.

Look out for meters that have the feature Automatic Temperature Compensation, which enables the tool to compensate for any temperature change, delivering a precise reading to ensure stability.

Some devices will also remind you when it’s time for re-calibration, which is vital for avoiding errors in values.

Versatility

Some budget meters will require calibrating straight out of the box, which is usually an easy process.

More advanced models will be able to measure not only the acid and alkaline levels of liquids, but also their electrical conductivity, temperature, purity, and concentration through total dispersed solids.

Functionality

It should be easy for the user to switch from one mode to another with push-buttons. Some unity has an auto-calibration feature, which simplifies the initialization process.

Best Recommends for you

ECO Farm PH/TDS/TEMP 3 in 1 Tester Meter

  • Certificates CE and ROHS
  • PH range pH: 0.00~14.00pH
  • TDS range 0.00 ~ 19990ppm
  • Temperature -50 ~ 70℃ (-58℉~ 158℉)
  • Power Supply DC 6V
  • Battery 4pcs1.5V AG-13 Button Cell Batteries ( Included)
  • Accuracy pH: ±0.1pH;TDS:±2%F.S;±1℃ (±2℉)
  • Material ABS
  • Item Weight Approx. 80g

VIVOSUN pH and TDS Meter Combo

 

Why is pH important in hydroponics?

pH is a measure of acidity. The pH of your garden matters to your plants because it determines how well your plants will be able to absorb nutrients from your hydroponic nutrient solution. Nutrients react with the molecules in your water differently at various pH levels, becoming more or less available to your plants for absorption. Most of the nutrients your plants will need are most available at roughly the same pH level, which gives you your ideal pH range for the water you input into your farm. This is usually between 5.5 and 6.5.

How Does a pH Meter Measure pH?

Now that we agree that monitoring pH is crucial to the growth of your hydroponic garden, let’s talk about how these meters work.

Your pH meter measures the hydrogen-ion concentration of your water. This concentration indicates whether the solution is acidic or alkaline by determining the difference of the electrical potential between a reference electrode and a test electrode.

Personally, my brain has a hard time wrapping around this sort of thing, so I’ll keep it simple. Your meter has a glass electrode, which is sensitive to hydrogen ions, and a reference electrode, which is stable. The difference between the two tells the pH meter what the pH of the liquid is and allows you to adjust your solution accordingly.

Caring for your pH Meter

All of that calibration won’t matter if you don’t take the time to care for your pH meter.

As boring as most directions usually are, the first thing you should do when you get a new pH meter is read the instruction manual that comes with it. The instructions should tell you how to care for your pH meter. If they don’t, call the manufacturer and ask them.

In general, there are several things you need to do for every pH meter:

  • Read the instructions
  • Keep it calibrated
  • Store meters with storage solutions in the cap upright for optimum saturation
  • Lightly swirl your meter in the storage solution to get rid of air bubbles
  • Don’t touch the sensor electrode or reference cell, as the oil on your skin can damage the sensor and affect readings
  • Store away from high heat and humidity
  • Don’t store your sensor in distilled water
  • Handle with care
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