Kelway Soil pH and Moisture Meter

Meter works as advertised, but the service from Kelway is spectacular. Recently purchased a 2nd Kelway Soil pH and Moisture Meter, since the 10 year old one I have had stopped functioning. On the literature accompanying the tester I found an address for repairs, so I mailed in the old one with a note and awaited a repair cost estimate. Within a week the meter was returned, postage paid, repaired and with a note that there was no charge!! How could that have been better?Kelway® Soil pH and Moisture MeterP.S. service from Forestry Suppliers, Inc., the actual vendor was fast and trouble free.

I am an avid garden and have gone through so many of those ph soil readers that you get at Lowes or Home Depot, and to tell you the truth - they were not sturdy enough for regular use. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was spending more money every year for cheapo testers that I would just go ahead and buy one that forrest and wildlife people use in the field. It was the best idea and this meter was well worth the price of $100. It will last me a lifetime and I will never have to buy another one from here on out.Then it also has the benefit of having a moisture reader with it. A good piece of machinery and I highly recommend that you throw your cheapo ones out the door and buy this one for it will be an item that will be passed on to my children when I pass on.

I have been using these cheap bi-metal solid electrode pH meters for many years, all the while thinking like many here that they work as advertised. Over the years I must have bought a small arsenal of these cheap bi-metal electrode meters, ranging from the $10 cheap models, to $20 Rapitest, and to the most pricey $120 Kelway HB-2. Based on my recent experience I can tell you this: save your money and don't bother with these bi-metal solid electrode pH meters no matter who makes them. They are the equivalent of divining rods or dowsing rods. If they seem to work, it's purely by accident and not because of supportable scientific principles. A good clue that these metal electrode pH meters are junk is that their instructions state that they can only be use to measure soil pH but they can't measure pH of liquids. The only soil pH testing methods you can do at home that work are: 1. litmus paper, 2. pH indicator solutions that change color, or 3. very expensive glass electrode or ISFET electrode pH meters. Litmus paper and pH indicator solutions have significant limitations and high uncertainty because the soil can frequently impart a color that can make comparison against the color chart challenging.What prompted me to write this review is that I finally took the plunge after several decades of gardening to buy a very expensive glass electrode pH meter. I did so because a retarded unlicensed concrete "contractor" that my neighbor hired illegally dumped leftover concrete and gallons of highly alkaline concrete wash water onto my very expensive and prized conifers. According to an article on the EPA website concrete wash water has a pH 12, same as a bottle of liquid ammonia cleanser. I am doing everything I can to save my beloved plants and need to know the precise pH with high certainty before I can remediate the soil. The glass electrode pH meter I bought is a Hanna Instruments HI 99121N Direct Soil and Water Portable pH/Temperature Meter ( http://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instruments-99121N-Portable-Temperature/dp/B003UNK3LU/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1432521893&sr=1-3&keywords=hanna+direct+soil+ph+meter ).I did some comparison readings using the Hanna HI-99121N glass electrode pH meter and the Kelway HB-2 bi-metal electrode meter. Here is what I found:1. Indoor planting mix in a large planter: I took two different readings with the Hanna in two different holes and the pH readings were 5.0 and 5.5. With the Kelway HB-2, the readings were 6.0 and 6.2 respectively.2. Outdoor soil where the retard concrete guy dumped the concrete wash water: Hanna read 8.0 and 8.2 in two spots. Kelway read 6.2 in the same two spots.The only time the Kelway indicated a high pH reading was when the highly alkaline concrete wash water was freshly dumped onto my yard. I took a reading that very evening with the Kelway and it indicated a pH that was far beyond the top of the scale of pH 8 on the Kelway. How far beyond pH 8 it was I don't know because the Kelway's scale tops out a pH 8. Now two weeks later when the soil has naturally recovered somewhat with a pH 8 (based on the Hanna's reading), the Kelway now reads 6.2.So let me summarize the results:When the soil is highly alkaline (if it is really at let's say pH 12) then the Kelway would indicate a high pH reading. If it is slightly alkaline with a real pH 8 then the Kelway would read 6.2. Do you see a problem here?When the soil is neutral (pH 7) or quite acidic (pH 5 to 5.5), the Kelway would still read 6.0 to 6.2. Do you also see a problem here?You might ask: did I take the readings correctly when using the Kelway? The answer is a definitive Yes. I took precaution to wet the soil with distilled water. I polished the electrodes with the green abrasive sheet and I didn't touch the electrodes with my bare fingers. The needle initially swung to the right (as the instruction stated) when I inserted the electrode into the soil and I waited 2 to 3 minutes before taking the readings. I cleaned the electrode with the abrasive sheet prior to taking each reading.Conclusion: Although my Hanna glass electrode pH meter is very expensive, it is worth every penny to me because it gives the same accuracy that soil labs give. Never again will I waste my time with the metal electrode pH meters. How these manufacturers can keep on selling them to gullible gardeners is beyond comprehension. They get away with it because most gardeners don't know any better and because if these cheap metal electrode pH meters give a reading between 6 and 7 most people automatically think their pH meter is functioning correctly because that's what most people expect their soil pH to be. These metal electrode pH meters are similar to divining rods or dowsing rods. I suppose that if people believe hard enough that they work, they can rationalize (however ridiculously) that they do work.Instead of those bimetal electrode pH meters that don't really work, here are some direct reading soil pH meters that are based on sound scientific principles:Extech PH100 ExStik ($75, available on Amazon),Spectrum FieldScout Soilstik pH meter (about $160, looks almost same as ExStik, but twice the price),Bluelab soil pH pen (about $130)Hanna HI 99121N (about $300).Oakton WD-35634-40 Double Junction pH Spear ($250).ScichemTech pH PEN-5 (about $165, available on Amazon)Lutron model PH-212, Digital Soil pH Meter (about $200)The downside with the above real pH meters is that their electrodes are fragile and the electrodes have to be replaced every few years at big bucks (at 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the meter) and they require calibration and electrode storage solutions (if the electrodes dry out, they die), but it's still infinitely better than using gardening dowsing rods

Much more accurate than your $5 pH meter. Worth the money. Also, if you get a reading of 7 (neutral) your soil is just that. Neutral, lacking organics. I thought the thing was broken at first (kept getting reading of 7), but it was telling me exactly what I needed. To add some nutrients!!! After adding nutes, the readings came down into mid 6s (where I wanted it), and now I am able to maintain a stable pH with regular feedings.

Considering you need to work towards proper pH balance on a yearly basis this thing is excellent for going around the yard and fine-tuning your yard as far as pH level. For this much money I wasted had come with a ballistic nylon sheath instead of a cheap plastic one but still would buy it again. Be sure to wipe it off and use those little sandpaper things to get accurate readings.

If you are serious about checking PH and moisture this is a must have. I have this along with the cheaper tools. This is my reliable tool. It takes a little more to test but it's accurate. As long as your plants are doing well you can keep an eye with your cheaper tools and if in doubt double check with this. I have a collection of the cheaper tools - all of which are unreliable or broken - cheap. I am replacing them but keeping this for reliability.

The Kelway pH and moisture meter is an excellent tool for the home gardener and professional alike. It's easy to use and gives accurate, dependable results. I tested several areas of garden beds and the Kelway agreed with titration results within pH of +/- 0.2 more than twice as accurate as expected. The readings were also repeatable to within +/- 0.1. The drawbacks are pretty minor. It would have been nice to get more than two sheets of conditioning film and the storage pouch is heat sealed vinyl. For such a costly tool I would have expected a higher quality pouch. Also I like to keep the conditioning film and order form in the pouch along with the tool. This is not easy to do as there is little room. I can understand putting the quality into the tool and not the carrying case-a pretty minor drawback

This Soil Tester is very good, However you need to clean the receptor plate before each use. Using the special neutralizer paper Kelway supplies with the meter. They also give you an order form to order more paper. One sheet will only do about 10 soil applications. I would recommend getting a small tool box to put the meter and all of the support equipment u need to take your soil samples. The leather pouch that comes with the meter really does not function that well.