My HM meter is still working after 11 months. I always rinse with distilled water and make sure I use storage solution. I now have a blue lab but it goes to show that when you take care of your electronics, they’ll take care of you!! 👌
Just came back to say, 'I really appreciate your no BS approach, and the way you respond to every comment truly makes you a go to source. I wish I lived near PA, I hope I have the opportunity to purchase something from you in the future'. Thank You for what you are doing :)
after years of rather inconsistent and slow measuring of PH with my old meter (it wasn't really "bad" but it wasn't great either), and the necessity to buy a new EC meter anyways, i decided to shell out and get the bluelab combo meter.. and what a difference this made! while my old PH meter sometimes took a minute or two to stabilize, the bluelab takes maximum a few seconds and it gives me consistent readings every time. yes, it's not cheap, but i should have done this from the beginning, this would have saved me years of headache with my old one
The second meter requires a calibration solution of 6.86. Then when the probe is in the 4.0 solution you must press the calibration button. THEN it reads 4.0. See the John Berfelo channel for videos of how his garden was nearly killed by a faulty Bluelab pH meter.
Keep em coming Gary ,love the videos,even if I pick up one thing,always helpful,watched the fallponic video,peaked my interest and think it’s a great deal
I would love it if you had a store close by. I do order from you online, but it's not the same as having a shop we can just pop into. Thanks for the great info.
You guys are awesome. I had no clue how to take care or calibrate my cheapo pH meter. Would always leave water and nutrients on the nodes and wondered why the thing broke on me after a year.
Yeah thanks. PH meters dont make it long but taking care of them can add some life, but still 3 or 4 years is a miracle even when you do take good care of them. Thanks for watching. Gary
Hey Gary I Know you have been asked this before but where can I get the cool guy all in one calibration and storage solution rack with all the goodies? Thanks
Gary, been watching your videos as a total newbie.. when you feed plants in Soil versus hydroponics, do you leave the runoff in the catch tray under the pot or discard it to keep the plant drier. Is there a ‘safe “ temperature above the plants from the lighting source, is there a preferred run time for top feeding and air bubbler in a hydroponic 5 gallon bucket fed from a reservoir and finally, how to you prefer to handle a power failure where light and pumps could change the cycle of on /off by 10-12 hours
Hello, alright hmm.1. I don't leave the pots in standing water, if the water completely covers air holes on pots the soil won't breath as well, and a lot of other reasons, you should try a plant elevator to lift the pot up out of water.2.temperature is tricky, there is air temp and there is leaf surface temp caused by infrared light from your light, some light's don't put out as much infrared like some led's, temp should be below 80 as a general rule. 70-75 is ideal in my experience but summer is tough.3. Top feeding doesn't need to run long , it's really your preference, don't let upper roots above water level dry out so time between feedings is really more important, some people run drips continuously but remember your water pump can heat up your nutrient reservoir so cycling timer is best. on a couple minutes off a hour or so really no real answer , every garden is different, humidity ,temp ,light ect will have an impact on how quick your upper roots will dry.4.Bubbler in 5 gal system - KEEP RUNNING 24/7, more oxygen the better ( try to put your airpump in cool place to pump in cooler air to keep rez temp lower.5. Power failure in a DWC is not good, without oxygen to roots they can die pretty quick, you can add hydrogen peroxide to each plant site to provide oxygen in an emergency to the root zone or pull plants out of standing water and baby them by dipping every so ofter, the bad part of hydro is power failures! 6. Light timer screw up due to power failure, YIKES , depending on what phase they are in could mess up there cycle if you know what I mean, if you have a power failure you can give us a call about that issue. 7. AWESOME QUESTIONS!!! THANKS - YOU PROBABLY JUST HELPED A BUNCH OF PEOPLE :)
How do you calibrate the other yellow Meter ?? I bought 1 and it's all over the place on the second solution of calibration and I gave up on it but would like to know the right way to do it. The cheap yellow one ??
Hello, the guardian is excellent and so is HM Hydromaster , the biggest problem with continuous read meters is cleaning must be done a couple times a week, the probes tend to be a salt magnet, so keep that in mind. The ph probes for both of these unit's is not very expensive and they will wear out faster than a handheld meter. The Guardian also has the wifi connect feature if you want to be glued to your phone 24/7 :) Hope this helps. G
@@PAHydroponics Not with the Mydro Lab. It's a full cycle autodoser and you don't need to clean or calibrate the probes more than once every 2 months. I've even gone 4 months without doing anything at all and the pH was only out by 0.3pH. The system does full auto reservoir dumps, refills and top ups, nutrient prep, pH and EC maintenance and feeding. The reason that it rarely needs cleaning or calibration is that it has stir/mixer pump control. Every time it doses nutrients or pH, it activates a pump that flows water past the probes. Because like you said, the probes are salt magnets. That is why you need a stir pump to activate just as the nutrients are being dosed into the reservoir. When you talk about calibrating a handheld probe 2 times per month it reminds me of the hard times when I was going head first into water tanks to check readings every day with a handheld meter and a flashlight. Dumping reservoirs by hand every week, prepping nutrients with measuring cups ect. ect. Freedom from all that is just priceless.
Honestly, if you have a good eye and get used to it, the old methods (paper, solution) are best. And cheapest. Never have to worry about misreads or calibration.
didnt the second prob need to be cal at 6.81 or what ever it is. and the ph4 for me atleast is 4.01 idk i think the cheaper ph have different ph levels needed for calibration. maybe so u have to buy theirs idk
Hey there, yup , we dont even carry that meter anymore but I always use the 4.0 and 7.0 1/20 of a point off is not gonna make much difference, and yeah hanna cal solution is most expensive too, really been liking the bluelabs since this video. Thanks for watching! Gary
Hey Gary what's the price range between the between The pH meters 10 being the best down to one it seems to me they start at five dollars and go up to $150 I would like the middle of the road something that'll last me at least a good year with all the calibration Solutions storage solutions cleaning solutions throw an approximate estimation out there thanks pal. You're doing a good job informing us thanks again.
There are a couple different errors and reasons the errors will occur. Please refer to your owners manual or check out this page on the Blue Lab wesite.... bluelab.filecamp.com/s/7KhfDyhPmMXARAZL/fo/3Y26sAkwd2PNZryq/fi/5mj0RSduBT6EtXzJ
My HM meter is still working after 11 months. I always rinse with distilled water and make sure I use storage solution. I now have a blue lab but it goes to show that when you take care of your electronics, they’ll take care of you!! 👌
Just came back to say, 'I really appreciate your no BS approach, and the way you respond to every comment truly makes you a go to source. I wish I lived near PA, I hope I have the opportunity to purchase something from you in the future'. Thank You for what you are doing :)
Thanks! I hope to keep making more and spreading the good word :) Gary
These video are so spot on:) thank u n greetings from Finland :)
after years of rather inconsistent and slow measuring of PH with my old meter (it wasn't really "bad" but it wasn't great either), and the necessity to buy a new EC meter anyways, i decided to shell out and get the bluelab combo meter.. and what a difference this made!
while my old PH meter sometimes took a minute or two to stabilize, the bluelab takes maximum a few seconds and it gives me consistent readings every time.
yes, it's not cheap, but i should have done this from the beginning, this would have saved me years of headache with my old one
The second meter requires a calibration solution of 6.86. Then when the probe is in the 4.0 solution you must press the calibration button. THEN it reads 4.0.
See the John Berfelo channel for videos of how his garden was nearly killed by a faulty Bluelab pH meter.
I want one of those little bluelab display rack/ calibration tables.
Keep em coming Gary ,love the videos,even if I pick up one thing,always helpful,watched the fallponic video,peaked my interest and think it’s a great deal
I would love it if you had a store close by. I do order from you online, but it's not the same as having a shop we can just pop into. Thanks for the great info.
Thank you so much! Now I know what I was doing wrong! I used to think the storage solution wasn't that important but I see that it really is!
Your welcome! I still learn new things everyday! I will keep spreading the info! Gary.
Do you have to use Bluelabs ph calibration buffers with Bluelab meters or can I use something less expensive?
You guys are awesome. I had no clue how to take care or calibrate my cheapo pH meter. Would always leave water and nutrients on the nodes and wondered why the thing broke on me after a year.
Yeah thanks. PH meters dont make it long but taking care of them can add some life, but still 3 or 4 years is a miracle even when you do take good care of them. Thanks for watching. Gary
If you had a cheapo that lasted a year, your a lucky bastard. Mine broke after a month
I have one of these great bit of kit wouldn’t mind getting hold of one of those stands to keep it all in order 😃
Hey Gary I Know you have been asked this before but where can I get the cool guy all in one calibration and storage solution rack with all the goodies? Thanks
0:28 Potentia Hydrogenii [lat.]
| Concentration of hydrogen
Should I ever clean the cap and sponge or just keep adding KCI solution?
I love these videos. If im ever in the area i will stop by.
in 2 weeks my Kratky water pH Went from 5.8 to 6.7 had to use the meter to find that out and PH Down to change it.
Thank you for the great learn
Where you get the stand /holder
Gary, been watching your videos as a total newbie.. when you feed plants in Soil versus hydroponics, do you leave the runoff in the catch tray under the pot or discard it to keep the plant drier. Is there a ‘safe “ temperature above the plants from the lighting source, is there a preferred run time for top feeding and air bubbler in a hydroponic 5 gallon bucket fed from a reservoir and finally, how to you prefer to handle a power failure where light and pumps could change the cycle of on /off by 10-12 hours
Hello, alright hmm.1. I don't leave the pots in standing water, if the water completely covers air holes on pots the soil won't breath as well, and a lot of other reasons, you should try a plant elevator to lift the pot up out of water.2.temperature is tricky, there is air temp and there is leaf surface temp caused by infrared light from your light, some light's don't put out as much infrared like some led's, temp should be below 80 as a general rule. 70-75 is ideal in my experience but summer is tough.3. Top feeding doesn't need to run long , it's really your preference, don't let upper roots above water level dry out so time between feedings is really more important, some people run drips continuously but remember your water pump can heat up your nutrient reservoir so cycling timer is best. on a couple minutes off a hour or so really no real answer , every garden is different, humidity ,temp ,light ect will have an impact on how quick your upper roots will dry.4.Bubbler in 5 gal system - KEEP RUNNING 24/7, more oxygen the better ( try to put your airpump in cool place to pump in cooler air to keep rez temp lower.5. Power failure in a DWC is not good, without oxygen to roots they can die pretty quick, you can add hydrogen peroxide to each plant site to provide oxygen in an emergency to the root zone or pull plants out of standing water and baby them by dipping every so ofter, the bad part of hydro is power failures! 6. Light timer screw up due to power failure, YIKES , depending on what phase they are in could mess up there cycle if you know what I mean, if you have a power failure you can give us a call about that issue. 7. AWESOME QUESTIONS!!! THANKS - YOU PROBABLY JUST HELPED A BUNCH OF PEOPLE :)
How do you calibrate the other yellow Meter ?? I bought 1 and it's all over the place on the second solution of calibration and I gave up on it but would like to know the right way to do it. The cheap yellow one ??
Appreciate u man
so what is your opinion on the blue lab guardian as far as longevity?
Hello, the guardian is excellent and so is HM Hydromaster , the biggest problem with continuous read meters is cleaning must be done a couple times a week, the probes tend to be a salt magnet, so keep that in mind. The ph probes for both of these unit's is not very expensive and they will wear out faster than a handheld meter. The Guardian also has the wifi connect feature if you want to be glued to your phone 24/7 :) Hope this helps. G
@@PAHydroponics Not with the Mydro Lab. It's a full cycle autodoser and you don't need to clean or calibrate the probes more than once every 2 months. I've even gone 4 months without doing anything at all and the pH was only out by 0.3pH. The system does full auto reservoir dumps, refills and top ups, nutrient prep, pH and EC maintenance and feeding.
The reason that it rarely needs cleaning or calibration is that it has stir/mixer pump control. Every time it doses nutrients or pH, it activates a pump that flows water past the probes.
Because like you said, the probes are salt magnets. That is why you need a stir pump to activate just as the nutrients are being dosed into the reservoir. When you talk about calibrating a handheld probe 2 times per month it reminds me of the hard times when I was going head first into water tanks to check readings every day with a handheld meter and a flashlight. Dumping reservoirs by hand every week, prepping nutrients with measuring cups ect. ect. Freedom from all that is just priceless.
Buy A Truncheon you won't regret it.
Can I Calibrate with the ph 7.0 if it’s reading 6.6 ?
Honestly, if you have a good eye and get used to it, the old methods (paper, solution) are best. And cheapest. Never have to worry about misreads or calibration.
Aloha from Hawaii. Do I need a soil tester and water testerfor PH
didnt the second prob need to be cal at 6.81 or what ever it is. and the ph4 for me atleast is 4.01 idk i think the cheaper ph have different ph levels needed for calibration. maybe so u have to buy theirs idk
Hey there, yup , we dont even carry that meter anymore but I always use the 4.0 and 7.0 1/20 of a point off is not gonna make much difference, and yeah hanna cal solution is most expensive too, really been liking the bluelabs since this video. Thanks for watching! Gary
Hey Gary what's the price range between the between The pH meters 10 being the best down to one it seems to me they start at five dollars and go up to $150 I would like the middle of the road something that'll last me at least a good year with all the calibration Solutions storage solutions cleaning solutions throw an approximate estimation out there thanks pal. You're doing a good job informing us thanks again.
Great stuff 👍
Thanks! We are doing the Nutrient strength meter video today so look for that soon :) Gary
I'm getting er on my blue lab ph pen when calibrating in ph 4.0? What does that mean?
There are a couple different errors and reasons the errors will occur. Please refer to your owners manual or check out this page on the Blue Lab wesite.... bluelab.filecamp.com/s/7KhfDyhPmMXARAZL/fo/3Y26sAkwd2PNZryq/fi/5mj0RSduBT6EtXzJ
I got to be the 420th like. 👍
😎
My blue labs only lasted 2 weeks rather spend 10 than 90
Bluelabs have a one year warranty... I hope you took advantage of that.
PH Potential Hydrogen