Yes, I'd wait a bit. Mine specifically says on the packaging to wait 10mins. Nothing about the soil being moist tho. But, they could all be different, of course! lol
Right. I've also used this test, and it states in the instructions to wait 60 seconds to read it. It did take the needle a while to "find it's place ".
Use distilled ionized water(its ph is neutral), tap water ph is higher, so your chemical soil sample reading is off. Add distilled ionized water to the soil then test with your probe( for a better reading test in a few different spots and average them out).
I've bought 4 of those prong things by various companies and they always say the ph is between 7-8. Utter junk probably all made in the same Chinese factory. I guess 1 in 50 or so at least must work! After much research am now going to buy a soil ph tester from PCE Instruments.
I'm SO glad to see this here, I almost bought the meter or the test with the colored capsules yesterday. The meter with metal prongs was $16, and the capsule one was almost $6. I read that the meter is not accurate though, so, I didn't buy it. I'll be trying the vinegar and baking soda test, mostly because it's free. And, using distilled water is of course a must. Okay, so you are 5.5 - 6, and that is about how MY PH is in my yard per a test by the pro's that I had done about 8-10 years ago. I'll be testing my potting soil recipe I got off a rerun of the "Martha Stewart show", NOT my in ground soil. Anyway, that is almost perfect I THINK. I mean YOUR soil ph of 5.5-6. But, then that is just the first test you did. ANYWAYS, I am so glad I did not buy that $16 meter that seem to not be very accurate. There is a free way to test that is not going to tell you anything BUT your approximate PH. You use vinegar and baking soda with distilled water. It is just a general aid to tell you if your soil is acid or alkaline, but, not the numbers that you would get from the test with the capsules. Great video! I enjoyed it.
I have a 3 way meter and every thing I measure says 7. Now, how can a pink hydrangea be the same as a blue? At the store buying the ph soil tester in the thbe
Thanks dude. I really needed that confirmation because my probe is doing the same thing. Now I can move on and get something that is accurate. I appreciate your time. Aloha
Thanks Suzanna! I tried doing that and didn't have much luck. I may try again later. The other functionality of the prong tester seems to work well though. Thanks for your input!
Aren't you supposed to wet the soil with distilled water, wait 5 minutes, then probe and wait a few more minutes prior to taking your reading? I think that is why you had an inaccurate reading. The meter did not have enough time to work. Also, I hear LaMonte test kits are the way to go. 94% accurate.
Thank you so much you have made me feel less crazy I have one of those 2 prong meters and it always reads my pH at 8 to 7 I knew something wasn't right your video was very helpful I will go and buy the other testing kit
but he did not leave the prongs and device in the dirt for 10 minutes....you can't get accurate results by jamming the rods into the dirt and that's it...it takes time
yeah those meters are horrible. everything reads a 7 for me, but then an avocado someone gave me reads a 4.5. I remember testing soil by my mandarin tree and it was like a 3 or 4 and now it says 7. I noticed if you leave it in the ground a while it sometimes will work.
I have no skin in the game I am just in the market and want to find one that works. I've watched demenstratiions where the soil they tested was of a mud consistency for pH they also left it in the soil a minate or so to get an accurate reading.
Your soil looks like it needs aeration and top dressing. And what season is this cause the trees still look dormat. Depending on the species of grass you have it will go dormat too.
Yeap, I bought 2 of them just to make sure and those Rod ones are garbage. Always says it's between 7 and 8 before watering, after watering, being in for 1 minute or 20 minutes still same reading in multiple different plants. I ph my water to exactly 6.5 with a digital meter so they are just Trash them prong ones.
Thanks for sharing your conclusions. My local Ag Extension office gave that RapiTest one high marks, and those probe ones have lots of iffy reviews. Going to buy the former. What species is your grass? I’ll almost certainly need to raise my PH value and I’ve been thinking about using perennial ryegrass.
Tap Water That's the pH you measured. The pH of the tap water. But don't feel dissed. 75% of peeps who get RapidTest don't know to use distilled water. And RapidTest does not do a good job of making that clear in the instructions. When you use distilled H2O, RapidTest is very accurate. I'll bet that probe is too. To test it, fill 1 red Solo Cup about two-thirds full of plain playbox sand, or mortar sand (sift the mortar sand through your fingers to get just the sand, and remove the gravely bits; Solo Cup HAS to be Red, because Solo Cup.). With either sand, if it's moist, put it in the oven at about 120, spread out on a pie plate or something, and give it 15 to 20 minutes to dry. Let it come to room temp. Put it back in the RED Solo Cup. Then stick your meter in it, bone dry. It'll almost surely be 7.0 or close to it. That reading defines your pH baseline for your medium. Wipe off those leads thoroughly with paper towels or the hem of the wife-beater you're no doubt wearing. Now sneak out Mama's measuring cup, breath in it to fog it up just like you do those fake flea market Oakleys, and wipe out the inside real good, twice, with two different paper towels. Pour 1/4 cup vinegar (preferably plain old distilled white vinegar that says 5% concentration; but brown will do in a pinch; no balsamic or flavored vinegars will work) in the measuring cup, then stick the probe in. Standard distilled white vinegar at 5% strength should measure 2.4 or close to it. (If you somehow end up with weaker vinegar, just google what the pH should be, and compare that answer with your probe reading.) Whatever your vinegar reading is, that number defines your pH baseline for your acidic liquid. Now, pour all that vinegar in the RED - I SAID RED GODDAMMIT! -Solo Cup. Mix it until the sand is all moist, then pour off the vinegar. Now stick your reader in it. If the pH for the sand and the vinegar were in the neighborhood that's normal for them, It should read between 2.7 and 3.6. If it's in that range, then the meter is as accurate as you need to be for plants, turf, or fish. But you shouldn't have a lawn in the first place. Turn that into a combination between a vegetable garden and native habitat for your native plants, birds, insects, and soil microbes.
I read in some of the reviews that you need to let these charge for a few hours in the sun before the ph test works. Have you tried this? Does it work better now?
Saturday Projects these meters work by displaying a correlation of the millivoltage generated by the simple galvanic cell, which is two dissimilar metals (the probes on the meter) placed in an electrolyte (the soil with water and salts). Basically the two different metals make a very weak battery that produces enough electricity to move the needle back and forth depending on how strong the generated voltage is.
your soil i dont think is wet enough for that meter to read it properly. try overwatering the area you want to test or go out after a good rain. because it needs a solution in order to read more accurately.
The Prong PH Tester looks cheap but you are still using it wrong. You need to leave them in for longer. My unit recommends 10 mins . They start high and then start to go down until they reach the correct PH.
dude I know this is 4 years ago but i hope you realized your mistake....you didn't give the other ph tester enough time to accurately give you numbers..you can't just jam the rods into the ground and get results...if that was the case then every marijuana grower would have one of those ph testers...are the strips faster results?yes but I believe those test strips are not as accurate as the slower rod in dirt. wait method.
I believe that if you followed the instructions more accurately and sent a sample to the Extension Office for professional testing, it would've been a great video. Keep trying bro! 👍
@@rodrigoibarra613 Yes, just google " liquid aerator" . Amazon sells it and I'm sure its sold in other places. You mix and spray it on. It will loosen compacted and rooty soils at a greater depth than a mechanical aerator. You'll be surprised.
Friends, I spent a lot of time with the probe tester off camera and it barely moved. For as cheap as the probe tester is, I didn't expect much. Really good testers at amazon here: geni.us/K4I7zu are far more pricey and likely a lot better. The lime ended up helping my lawn a LOT and my grass grew a lot better!
I would do a proper soil test by taking samples in multiple areas of your yard and send them out to a lab for accurate results. My thoughts are if your PH was neutral or close to neutral, your lawn would be much greener than it is. Balance ph first, then get rid of all weeds, then aerate and overseed or aerate then slice seed. Then in spring use a 5 step program and stick with it if you want long term results.
Why would you make a video and use the soil tester COMPLETELY WRONG? You don't just stick it in the ground.... did you NOT read the instructions? There is a whole process for this. Delete this video so you don't continue to look like a fool.
Thanks for watching!!! Please see the links and other info in the description. Thank you!!!
Soil has to be relatively wet before performing pH test (conductivity). Also you need to wait for a minute or two for more accurate reading.
Conductivity is different from pH. Conductivity is sometimes used to determine fertility, but it's not specific to NPK components.
Martin Uzunov I never knew you had to wait at least a minute for the reading for the pH level. Thank you for the video and comments
Yes, I'd wait a bit. Mine specifically says on the packaging to wait 10mins. Nothing about the soil being moist tho. But, they could all be different, of course! lol
You should dig garden soil in thermos with distilled water. Wait longer
Right. I've also used this test, and it states in the instructions to wait 60 seconds to read it. It did take the needle a while to "find it's place ".
Use distilled ionized water(its ph is neutral), tap water ph is higher, so your chemical soil sample reading is off. Add distilled ionized water to the soil then test with your probe( for a better reading test in a few different spots and average them out).
Did you use distilled water? If not you may have altered or influenced a variable.
@soaringtractor yep di water or distilled and the soil needs to be moist.
I agree. I used the exact same test, and I believe it stated to use distilled water.
Moisture is low and it needs about 3 to 5 minutes to accurately measure your ph
I've bought 4 of those prong things by various companies and they always say the ph is between 7-8. Utter junk probably all made in the same Chinese factory. I guess 1 in 50 or so at least must work! After much research am now going to buy a soil ph tester from PCE Instruments.
it looks like you have soil compaction issue. It take about six months for lime to complete the chemical reaction process to change your PH.
my meter would not read until i cleaned the probes a couple times. now works great.
I'm SO glad to see this here, I almost bought the meter or the test with the colored capsules yesterday. The meter with metal prongs was $16, and the capsule one was almost $6.
I read that the meter is not accurate though, so, I didn't buy it. I'll be trying the vinegar and baking soda test, mostly because it's free. And, using distilled water is of course a must.
Okay, so you are 5.5 - 6, and that is about how MY PH is in my yard per a test by the pro's that I had done about 8-10 years ago. I'll be testing my potting soil recipe I got off a rerun of the "Martha Stewart show", NOT my in ground soil. Anyway, that is almost perfect I THINK.
I mean YOUR soil ph of 5.5-6. But, then that is just the first test you did. ANYWAYS, I am so glad I did not buy that $16 meter that seem to not be very accurate.
There is a free way to test that is not going to tell you anything BUT your approximate PH.
You use vinegar and baking soda with distilled water. It is just a general aid to tell you if your soil is acid or alkaline, but, not the numbers that you would get from the test with the capsules. Great video! I enjoyed it.
I have a 3 way meter and every thing I measure says 7. Now, how can a pink hydrangea be the same as a blue? At the store buying the ph soil tester in the thbe
I had exactly the same 7 reading on my prong tester. In fact, it showed 7 before and after the test.
and also use demineralized water(neutral ph) in both cases
Thanks dude. I really needed that confirmation because my probe is doing the same thing. Now I can move on and get something that is accurate. I appreciate your time. Aloha
I know this is an old video, but you have to leave the probe in for a minute to get a good ph reading. Also you need to have it farther in the ground.
Thanks Suzanna! I tried doing that and didn't have much luck. I may try again later. The other functionality of the prong tester seems to work well though. Thanks for your input!
I had to dig into my soil a bit after watering for 3 days on and off.
Aren't you supposed to wet the soil with distilled water, wait 5 minutes, then probe and wait a few more minutes prior to taking your reading? I think that is why you had an inaccurate reading. The meter did not have enough time to work.
Also, I hear LaMonte test kits are the way to go. 94% accurate.
Typo there - it should be “LaMotte test kit” - no letter ‘n’, two letter ‘t’
whoa - you have a serious compaction issue the way your hand shovel went into the soil - time for some serious aeration in the fall!
S B I was going to say the same thing.
Rgs rgs lol
Thank you so much you have made me feel less crazy I have one of those 2 prong meters and it always reads my pH at 8 to 7 I knew something wasn't right your video was very helpful I will go and buy the other testing kit
This test in my opinion was not conducted properly
but he did not leave the prongs and device in the dirt for 10 minutes....you can't get accurate results by jamming the rods into the dirt and that's it...it takes time
The prongs work , has to be wet and ambient temperature
@@Bob46374 exactly, people dont know how to use things and say it doesnt work
So if you PH is good why you soil is not doing well?
I think the experts say the soil has to be freshly watered for the prongs to work.
Take note that you forgot to clean the rods when pulling the ph Maxine. I believe you must clean it.
instructions on mine says moisture must be 7 or higher for an accurate reading of the ph
yeah those meters are horrible. everything reads a 7 for me, but then an avocado someone gave me reads a 4.5. I remember testing soil by my mandarin tree and it was like a 3 or 4 and now it says 7. I noticed if you leave it in the ground a while it sometimes will work.
I have no skin in the game I am just in the market and want to find one that works. I've watched demenstratiions where the soil they tested was of a mud consistency for pH they also left it in the soil a minate or so to get an accurate reading.
Your soil looks like it needs aeration and top dressing. And what season is this cause the trees still look dormat. Depending on the species of grass you have it will go dormat too.
good video ...maybe aerate your soil with one of those plugging tools too to decompact it?
Yeap, I bought 2 of them just to make sure and those Rod ones are garbage. Always says it's between 7 and 8 before watering, after watering, being in for 1 minute or 20 minutes still same reading in multiple different plants. I ph my water to exactly 6.5 with a digital meter so they are just Trash them prong ones.
So which one is right?
check water ph from source also you may have acid rain in your area as we do this will effect ph
does it have to be distilled water?
If your PH is good then put down fertilizer, and stop cutting your grass so short. Thanks for the video.
Good video. Even if its just that one ph meter is faulty, I don't trust those things.
Thanks for sharing your conclusions. My local Ag Extension office gave that RapiTest one high marks, and those probe ones have lots of iffy reviews. Going to buy the former. What species is your grass? I’ll almost certainly need to raise my PH value and I’ve been thinking about using perennial ryegrass.
Hey Luke, it is Zoysia Emerald. Some Bermuda has come in in one area now though. Thanks for watching!
My probe meter can't show the moisture readingvproperly
Says the PH is high but its not yet grass is dying and the water test looked acidic?
soil compaction is your issue most likely. Aerate the yard and fertilize.
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for showing the easiest way is not always the most accurat. it helped me decide how to test my soi.
Tap Water
That's the pH you measured. The pH of the tap water.
But don't feel dissed. 75% of peeps who get RapidTest don't know to use distilled water.
And RapidTest does not do a good job of making that clear in the instructions.
When you use distilled H2O, RapidTest is very accurate.
I'll bet that probe is too. To test it, fill 1 red Solo Cup about two-thirds full of plain playbox sand, or mortar sand (sift the mortar sand through your fingers to get just the sand, and remove the gravely bits; Solo Cup HAS to be Red, because Solo Cup.). With either sand, if it's moist, put it in the oven at about 120, spread out on a pie plate or something, and give it 15 to 20 minutes to dry. Let it come to room temp. Put it back in the RED Solo Cup. Then stick your meter in it, bone dry. It'll almost surely be 7.0 or close to it. That reading defines your pH baseline for your medium. Wipe off those leads thoroughly with paper towels or the hem of the wife-beater you're no doubt wearing. Now sneak out Mama's measuring cup, breath in it to fog it up just like you do those fake flea market Oakleys, and wipe out the inside real good, twice, with two different paper towels. Pour 1/4 cup vinegar (preferably plain old distilled white vinegar that says 5% concentration; but brown will do in a pinch; no balsamic or flavored vinegars will work) in the measuring cup, then stick the probe in. Standard distilled white vinegar at 5% strength should measure 2.4 or close to it. (If you somehow end up with weaker vinegar, just google what the pH should be, and compare that answer with your probe reading.) Whatever your vinegar reading is, that number defines your pH baseline for your acidic liquid.
Now, pour all that vinegar in the RED - I SAID RED GODDAMMIT! -Solo Cup. Mix it until the sand is all moist, then pour off the vinegar. Now stick your reader in it. If the pH for the sand and the vinegar were in the neighborhood that's normal for them, It should read between 2.7 and 3.6.
If it's in that range, then the meter is as accurate as you need to be for plants, turf, or fish.
But you shouldn't have a lawn in the first place. Turn that into a combination between a vegetable garden and native habitat for your native plants, birds, insects, and soil microbes.
Does lime drop or raise pH?
Lime will raise the ph. Thanks for watching!
Did u use tap water ?
Has anyone tried testing the PH of soil with a swimming pool test strip?
maybe the water that you added to the rapid test wasn't neutral?
You should have watered the dirt before using the probe. It says so in the instruction (in Chinese I think).
I read in some of the reviews that you need to let these charge for a few hours in the sun before the ph test works. Have you tried this? Does it work better now?
That is pretty interesting. I'll let you know if I give it a try. Thanks for the info!
I've pulled one to bits and they have no battery or capacitors to take a charge. the other videos ya saw are not telling truth
Saturday Projects these meters work by displaying a correlation of the millivoltage generated by the simple galvanic cell, which is two dissimilar metals (the probes on the meter) placed in an electrolyte (the soil with water and salts). Basically the two different metals make a very weak battery that produces enough electricity to move the needle back and forth depending on how strong the generated voltage is.
@@djcbanks thanks man..kinda wondered how they work with not battery in sight
I don't think you can use the ph meter in dry soil you should have made a hole with a little mud slurry in it.
The probes are not an instant read-you need to leave the probes for about a minute and then read.
…Plus with the prong meters…who needs to measure light?!? It’s just a water meter sold at 3 in 1
did you test with distilled water?
Use garden tutor soil ph test strips you get 100 for like £10
The one where you mix tap water will give a false reading.
Yes
Thanks!
Lime would lower ph?
Lime raises ph
your soil i dont think is wet enough for that meter to read it properly. try overwatering the area you want to test or go out after a good rain. because it needs a solution in order to read more accurately.
The Prong PH Tester looks cheap but you are still using it wrong. You need to leave them in for longer. My unit recommends 10 mins . They start high and then start to go down until they reach the correct PH.
I always get 7 on those thing. They don't work
dude I know this is 4 years ago but i hope you realized your mistake....you didn't give the other ph tester enough time to accurately give you numbers..you can't just jam the rods into the ground and get results...if that was the case then every marijuana grower would have one of those ph testers...are the strips faster results?yes but I believe those test strips are not as accurate as the slower rod in dirt. wait method.
Those prong pH meters DONT work!!! They ALWAYS READ THE SAME pH (I tested with baking soda and vinegar added and NO CHANGE)
your grass is brown, my opinion is your soil is high, my meter says 6.5-7, after a heavy rain i get 6.2 +-
Read the comments and the instructions on the meter and make another video.
With the probe tester you have to wait 10 minutes before taking reading
I believe that if you followed the instructions more accurately and sent a sample to the Extension Office for professional testing, it would've been a great video. Keep trying bro! 👍
That cheap ass ph checker doesn’t work I bought it off amazon I don’t trust those prongs
Thank you so much for sharing
Learn how to use a ph meter and try again. There are TH-cam videos on correct usage!
Try a liquid aerator
Is there such a thing, sir? If there is I've never heard of it. I'd like to know.
@@rodrigoibarra613 Yes, just google " liquid aerator" . Amazon sells it and I'm sure its sold in other places. You mix and spray it on. It will loosen compacted and rooty soils at a greater depth than a mechanical aerator. You'll be surprised.
I have that meter and I really don’t trust it for ph
Those meters are all JUNK !
Friends, I spent a lot of time with the probe tester off camera and it barely moved. For as cheap as the probe tester is, I didn't expect much. Really good testers at amazon here: geni.us/K4I7zu are far more pricey and likely a lot better. The lime ended up helping my lawn a LOT and my grass grew a lot better!
Lime is a neutrilizer.... i believe lime is suppose to lower ph levels in soil over time.
Lime will raise PH it is an alkaline. low ph is acidic.
I would do a proper soil test by taking samples in multiple areas of your yard and send them out to a lab for accurate results. My thoughts are if your PH was neutral or close to neutral, your lawn would be much greener than it is. Balance ph first, then get rid of all weeds, then aerate and overseed or aerate then slice seed. Then in spring use a 5 step program and stick with it if you want long term results.
cool vid
No batteries required
You suppose to fill out that with destilled water not tap water. Test fail.
yeah those rod meters are crap, very inaccurate
10 mins to see the result for that prong
Your not using the meter properly
do it well and then update the video, otherwise you confuse people with wrong conclusions
Soil is way to dry
U add water! So not accurate
The cheap meters are total junk.
Why would you make a video and use the soil tester COMPLETELY WRONG? You don't just stick it in the ground.... did you NOT read the instructions? There is a whole process for this. Delete this video so you don't continue to look like a fool.
Thanks for watching!!! Please see the links and other info in the description. Thank you!!!