RyanStorm- Now I know how you got your 7.0 pH result. Sorry to say, but you wasted 10 bucks. That meter will never give accurate results. I have read dozens of people over the years who were mislead by those pieces of carp. It doesn't matter who is the manufacturer. ( I've tested them myself, and they are way off.) And wasted a lot more than 10 bucks making mistakes amending their soil and planting the wrong plants. There ought to be a law.... I was highly suspect of 7.0, just thought you had an accurate test done. Most of the state of Utah has soils with a pH of 7.8 or more. If you want accurate results, send a sample to a lab or two. To the Rest of Tree Peeps- I have tried the pool thingy and it was actually quite accurate, using distilled water. However, I'm not here to endorse them. But they are a much better tool than the probe meters. Like my hero, Ronaldus Magnus, said, "trust, but verify", which is also the case with pool pH meters. And they're cheap. Measuring the pH of a soil is in actuality, measuring the pH of the water in the soil, not the soil itself. M

I just ran a search, but it seems to be gone. My previous test of gel pens, in which I heat set the ink with an iron, seems to have dropped off the end of the forum. But I think I saved all my copious notes. The results of my test showed that ordinary gel pens can be heat set, and withstand at least a few washings with very little fading. I wouldn't use the gel pens on my "masterpiece" quilt, but for a quilt that is meant to be used until it is a rag, I think the lines might stand up OK. I just wish we could have a place to archive the best threads permanently. We used to have an FAQ section in the "Spike days." Maybe I just have to post my test results on a website of my own -- someday. Have a peek at my GardenWeb member page.href> Just gave it an overhaul.

Thanks Penny, I think I will use the paper, I have sent a message to the O web site so I guess I should wait a few days to see what they have to say. What I want to use it for is a pinwheel where you turn the inside page and the photos peek thru a window. This paper is a bit heavier than usual so should work good.

Sorry gardengal but I guess you've spent years in a classroom never learning and 50 years of gardening almost right. For argument sake the accuracy of the soil pH is a big deal and +/- 0.50 swing means a lot to myself and others who strive for perfection not to mention the farmers who grow the food you eat. Your close enough method doesn't cut mustard and here are a few examples. Do I want scab infested, bad skins and nutrient deficient potatoes or bad tasting low yielding potato plants? A +/- 0.50 and a close enough mentality will certainly give up potatoes with one or more problems and unthinkable. Below 6 and limited phosphorus and poor yield, above 6.5 and a good chance of scab so 6.2 is the target and pH is critical. (some data condensed from the potato growers association) Liars too? Who doesn't like blossom end rot on tomatoes. I prefer high 6's if not 7 as a buffer to fertilizing tomato plants with nitrogen to protect from BER, but not a tenth above 7. Confused? 20 years in a classroom, really? Dosing most plants with nitrogen will drop the root zone pH down 1, even 2 full units for 1 to 3 days while bacteria converts ammonium to nitrate. (this is from Cornell university if you'd like to call them liars) So for those couple of days if I had used the not so accurate pH strip, but close enough method, any tomato flowers setting fruit at the time would miss their Calcium fix causing BER. All because the strip showed 6.5 but was really 6 and with a little to much fertilizer the pH can drop to 3 and stay there, Nitrogen toxicity, (Cornell again) good bye plant. Lets say Your unreliable PH strip showed 7 but the soil really was 7.5, no big deal you say with such authority, OR the strip shows 6 but it's really only 5.5, well then you are so screwed when your plants start showing signs of Phosphorus deficiency. No lie, if so the liar is the national resources conservation service of the USDA. Sweet spot for phosphorus is between 6 and 7 because of fixation and backed up by George Silva, author of "peaks and valleys of phosphorus fixation" of the Michigan State University extension. George states an Accurate pH test is critical and thinks you're a phony, well the last part was me saying that, but the point is get a meter, look at the calendar to see we're not in the 20th century, and if you throw stones get ready to be stoned back. good night. Luster leaf rapitest pH kit, good gosh.