Kelway - HB-2 Soil pH and Moisture Meter

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

I love this thing. Very accurate. I bought it because we needed to acidify our soil for blueberries. It works perfectly and you can watch it work.. Takes about 60 seconds to stabilize reading but it was spot on when tested against the titration method.

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.

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.

Check the meter in different soils when you receive it. I used it in 4 different soils in 4 different pots, the PH reading on all of them was 7.0. I have 2 other older HB-2 meters I was replacing them with. They read 6.1, a 10-point difference. It's impossible to get the exact same reading on all soils. So, check the meter out on different soils. The PH is the starting point of what you do, if it's off, especially by a lot, your plants will not grow as they should. I'm shocked this brand-new meter out of the box is faulty. Kind of angry really. Going to replace it, give it one more try. Update, this meter WILL NOT WORK on potted plants that have at any time had a PH adjusting lime added. So if you soil PH dropped to low, you added lime to get it up, the meter will read 7.0 even though it is not, it could be 8.5 and you would not know. To check, using a (rapid test) chemical PH soil test using RO water 'for best results'. This meter did work outdoors on a raised bed garden, without lime added. So if you are growing herbs or vegetables in a pot with lime added, the Kelway PH meter WILL NOT WORK.

Does ok- not up to my expectations. The silly paper you have to use to clean it is expensive and a hassle. I think there are better meters out there if only I had done my homework

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.

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.