Soil PH meter

[sandspider]

Hi all

Just wondering, has anyone used a cheapy ebay PH meter (e.g. Soil pH Meter Gardeners soil pH meter, tester | eBay) and are the results reasonably accurate? I've recently planted an orchard and a few fruit bushes, but didn't think to check PH beforehand. Are the cheap PH meters any good, or a false economy? If they are worth it, can anyone recommend a good one? (I'm not keen to spend more than a tenner on something I'll probably use once or twice!)

Thank you.

[fishpond]

1) Litmus paper.
2) Get a dry sample of soil in a jar, add some vinegar, if it fizzes, you have chalk present.
3) Look around and see what weeds are growing.
My experience of cheap PH meters is that they sometimes work.
With the exception of Pears, which hate alkaline soil, most top fruit is very forgiving.(within reason)
With the exception of blueberries, most soft fruit is very forgiving (within reason)
With the exception of my pear trees, all my fruit is on chalk with added manure and mulched every year.
Pear trees are on a mixture of good topsoil and manure, mulched with manure every year.

[veggiechicken]

I have/had 3 cheap PH meters and tested them side by side in the same soil at various locations in the garden and in bags of bought compost. They were all different, each time.
I don't trust them

[Penellype]

I gave up with mine when it told me my soil was pH1. It isn't - pH1 is concentrated sulphuric acid.

[sandspider]

Thanks all. Probably better to save my money then. I have actually planted a blueberry bush! (Only one so far). But I can always mulch it with a few pine needles or add some sulphur if it doesn't seem to be doing well.

[Jungle Jane]

Try a bit of vinegar mixed with water to instantly lower the PH,not a permanent solution but an immediate help for the blueberries,also used coffee grounds are used quite a lot I've read on here. I usually get a bag of ericaceous compost & ive got some feed somewhere in the back of the cupboard,used it once,I always forget about it but should use it soon I'm going to write that down now or I'll forget again.
https://mattgadient.com/2015/12/21/m...d-citric-acid/

[sandspider]

Even easier! Thanks JJ. According to Landis my soil is mildy acidic anyway, so they may be OK as they are. Grass, bracken and brambles all grow in the soil, not seen much else!

[Penellype]

One rough check on the acidity of the soil in your neighbourhood is to see if anyone is growing hydrangeas. I know its not the best time of year for it right now, but if hydrangeas flower with blue flowers the soil is acidic, if they are pink or red it is alkaline.

[Jimmy]

I bought a nice soil test kit with a number of test tubes for differing measurements.
It involves putting some powder into a tube with some soil and water. Then shake it up and let it settle.
There is a nice colour chart to match the tube colour to.
Unfortunately none of the colours on the chart were mud.
So none matched, or all matched depending on how you look at it !
Jimmy

[Mr Bones]

Cheap pH meters are good in the sense that if you wiggle them about in the soil you can usually get the reading you want to see

[sandspider]

Cheers all.

No hydrangeas about, but I'll pop out with some coffee grounds for the blueberry bush and see how it goes.

I'm quite proud - I've managed not to buy another garden gadget!

[veggiechicken]

One rough check on the acidity of the soil in your neighbourhood is to see if anyone is growing hydrangeas. I know its not the best time of year for it right now, but if hydrangeas flower with blue flowers the soil is acidic, if they are pink or red it is alkaline.

Camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas like acidic soil too.

Whatever camellia you grow in your garden, it will do best in an acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. If the level is higher or lower than this they cannot absorb the necessary minerals for healthy growth.

Camellias grow well in my garden and there's a showpiece park of rhododendrons & azaleas a mile away. However, my hydrangeas are pink

[rary]

You should throw all your old tea bags around the roots of your blueberry bush, lowers the ph and adds nutrients

[Penellype]

Camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas like acidic soil too.

Whatever camellia you grow in your garden, it will do best in an acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. If the level is higher or lower than this they cannot absorb the necessary minerals for healthy growth.

Camellias grow well in my garden and there's a showpiece park of rhododendrons & azaleas a mile away. However, my hydrangeas are pink

Trust you to have plants that do something different VC