New measuring gear- help with brands please

[tastyness]

I need to order a new pH measurer today.

Had one of the cheap chinese pens- it stinks. I want something that will last and be useful. Was going to get just a pH pen- but thinking long term it would be good to know concentrations ppm.

Looking at BlueLabs but open to other ideas.

Not sure if I should get a pen / or the probe style.

What's the difference between EC and PPM?

Any cool features on your gear that I should put on the must have list?

 

[Dan K. Liberty]

BlueLab, Hanna and Milwaukee all have good dependable pens for $50-$90 . . . they're great for solutions and the surface of your soil or hydro medium . . . but I don't know of anything beside an analog probe that can poke in and get down there to measure pH in the root zone . . . so I find both kinds to be useful tools

EC and TDS are directly proportional, and one can be determined mathematically by using the other . . . the higher the concentration or percentage of dissolved solids in solution, the higher becomes the electrical conductivity of that solution

 

[Hushpuppy]

I think EC is a more accurate reading of TDS than the ppm reading, but you have to get used to judging what it means to the plants. PPM(to me) is a bit easier to translate to how much nutes you have in the solution. I have found so far that the Bluelab pens don't get out of calibration as easy or as quickly as the Milwaukee pens. Seems like Hanna holds up pretty good too. Just make sure to get the proper calibration fluid to go along with the meter, and when you get it, make sure to keep a little bit of calibration fluid in the cap of the PH pen so that it doesn't dry out or it will kill the probe.

 

[tastyness]

Thanks guys that helps a lot.

Dan K. - I still have the soil meter. This is for measuring pH when I feed my girls. I've been fighting this meter the whole grow.
I'm thinking I'll splurge - after all the BlueLabs comes with a 5 year warranty. So should be good.
Pen style is what I've been using. I don't see that they have that style that does both ec/ppm And pH- it looks like you get two different units of the same style.
I'll have to go read the page again.
Hushpuppy-thanks for that tip. I actually broke the first one I had by accident. Luckily the seller replaced it - for cost of return postage.
It came with two packets of calibration powder which I mixed up, but they are contaminated somehow, so I've ordered little bottles of premix.
I'll be sure to get the proper calibration/ care kit for whichever meter I do end up with.

 

[Dan K. Liberty]

I think you will find that there are digital combination meters that measure several different parameters

 

[Growdude]

If your going hydro you cant beat the constant monitoring type like a Blu-Lab Gaurdian.