Author Topic: Best refractometer?  (Read 824 times)

BonsaiBeast

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Best refractometer?
« on: December 09, 2020, 11:41:30 PM »
What is the best option for me to buy? Are they all virtually the same?

Rannman

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Re: Best refractometer?
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2020, 04:57:54 AM »
Price will decide which one is best for your needs. If money is no problem, you could spend hundreds, even thousands. If you want pretty much the same results with less expense, $50 should be fine.👍


Oncorhynchus

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Re: Best refractometer?
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2020, 02:45:20 PM »
I’ve never used one for brix but Vee Gee makes the best handheld I’ve used for salinity.  The cheaper ones seem to work well enough but less durable.

simon_grow

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Re: Best refractometer?
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2020, 05:19:02 PM »
The one Fruitnut linked to is a good cheap refractometer for most growers needs and I can relate on how it has enabled me to grow sweeter fruit with less watering. Without the refractometer, I had to guess how sweet my fruit are but now I’m able to give objective numbers to verify a change in my gardening routine did in fact lead to sweeter fruit.

If you grow very sweet fruit, you may want to get a 0-32 Brix and a 30-60 Brix meter. Some fruit like certain varieties of mango, Cherimoya, Sapodilla and others can have Brix ranges out of the smaller range meters.

If you attend fruit tastings, digital refractometer make it easier for everyone to verify the Brix readings. I have thus Hanna HI 96801 which compensates for temp and has a range of 0-85% Brix

Simon