I've never checked pH before. TDS, I have, but not pH. I've heard that you should check it going in as well as runoff. What kind of meter do I need to do this...? How much should I plan on spending on it?
$100 minimum, nothing less. maybe callibration is needed as well, it'll say. you check both runoff + feed to get most info, usually feed pH alone is enough, altho my only exp is with innert mediums.
Hanna makes a great ppm reader for about 50$ it outlasted my Blue Lab pen (120$) get the orange one. Sent from my SM-G900V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You don't need an $100 ph meter. If you really want one, you can get a quality meter for around $50. As mentioned above, Hanna has good meters. However, try to get one with digital calibration. I found the manual calibration not to be as accurate. When I grew with bottled nutrients, I had a Hanna Champ with manual screw calibration. I was not able to tune it 100%. The screw was adjusted all the way and it was still off by 0.3 when checking against calibration liquid. Oakton has some solid ph testers as well http://www.amazon.com/Oakton-EcoTestr-Waterproof-Tester-Range/dp/B004G8PWAU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1402863887&sr=8-11&keywords=hanna+ph+tester