I was curious if you’re able to check the pH in other ways. I know the grobo comes with the probe to do so. Other users on the Forum have a digital pH reader. I used to clean pools years ago and remember checking the pH by adding a few drops and sampling the water to get a reading. Could I do this for my reservoir water? Figure I could take a little sample of water and test it. Thoughts 
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Hey @alucard, I’ve got a digital reader for both, nothing fancy though like the unit has. Plus or minus .5-1.5 for pH is what I’ve been doing due to quality of probe. Like most of us, I’m hoping next year with updates, pH & EC will be shown in the app- What would you add to the water to check pH?
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Hey @alucard
I guess you could. I’ve never used those type of pH test kits but pH is pH. I’m just not sure of their accuracy. With that being said buying the cheapy $20 Amazon pH meter isn’t the answer either.
If you really want to know accurate pH I would recomend a high end test meter Grobo uses Bluelab one of the best brands in the industry. Personally one Grobo cant keep up to our consumtion so I’ve also got some soil plants going. I use this pH pen bellow for connivence it’s portable and even overkill it does pH ranges up to 14 not required for growing cannabis but other purposes.
TLDR: Try your pH test kit, record the value and then send a ticket in to ask your pH value and compare.
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@dew @Azuri Thanks for the advice. What I would typically do is dip a tube into the pool throw several drops of a solution into the tube shake it around depending on the color would determine the number of the pH is at for the pool. My friend’s owns pool company and I was talking to him about testing ph that’s the way he does it and I remember doing it. I just didn’t know if it would transfer over to plant life ph.
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Hey @alucard
I know the water pH shakem things you’re talking about. I don’t know much about what level a pool should be at but judging by this picture below the ranges aren’t anywhere they should be for a hydroponic or soil grown plant and the ranges colours can be fairly large if you dicpher the colour wrong. I Don’t think this would be an alternate way to test pH for your plant.
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@Azuri figured I’d ask. I was thinking of getting a Bluelab pen in the near future anyways, but wanted to ask about other ph test methods.
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Genuine good question @alucard . There are also test pH test strips for soil I bet they might work but I’m much prefer the pens for convenience. Buying a good pH pen comes with a price so maybe others can jump in with other reliable methods that can test it.
Just my 2 cents: I know this kind of tests for fish tanks. In my experiences they are quite accurate and you can test a range between 5-8 ph. But I guess it’s not as comfortable as a ph pen.
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Bottom line guys, you get what you pay for. I’ve used bluelab pens for years and they are reasonably priced and always accurate. Just have to recalibrate it every once in a while. I use for both hydro and soil, as I always ph my ro water before adding nutes.
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