To find your soil pH, you will need these materials, a pH meter, calibrating buffers, soil probe, clear cups, deionized water, and disposable pipettes. These materials will be available in the greenhouse or make arrangements with Daniel to get the necessary materials.
Pull a core of media using the soil probe. Do not take the upper 1" because of soluble salt build up. Take a few samples from each crop. Put in plastic cup. Re-fill the holes with media.
Mix 1 part media to 1 part deionized water. Let this solution set a minimum of 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, take the pH meter and calibrate. Do this by using the 7.0 calibrating buffer first. Put a drop on the pH meter sensor and use the cap to press "1 CAL." Wait until the CAL display stops blinking. Rinse with deionized water. Repeat with the 4.0 and 10.0 buffer solutions using the cap to press "2 CAL." Wait until CAL display stops blinking and rinse with deionized water.
Take the pipette and put a few drops of your media/water solution onto the pH meter sensor to find the pH of your soil. DO NOT imerse the meter in solution! Wait approximately 3 minutes to get a final reading. A pH reading of 5.8-6.8 is acceptable.
Rinse the pH meter sensor with deionized water, turn the power off, and replace the cap.
First calibrate the EC meter using the 0.02 buffer solution. Place the EC meter in the buffer solution. If your reading is not 0.02, turn the black slot on the back of the EC meter slowly to get it to calibrate to 0.02.
Once calibrated, place the EC meter in your 1 part media and 1 part deionized water solution. Your reading will vary between crops.
