Continuing the discussion from New Grower, Baby Boomer:
Also I’m thinking of getting a PAR meter. Any recommendations (except for that expensive $500 one). I can’t afford that one, but I saw plenty of them under a $100 or so.
If you got the photone app, it can be pretty accurate. Can even be calibrated if you got a honest 3rd party ppfd chart. I use it, its free on Android
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I have an apple phone. I will check the App Store. That would be great!!! Thanks
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The bad part is with apple you need a paper diffuser i believe. A specific weight paper, i believe its 22# but read the info to be sure.
Ok, Thanks! I got it! However you are right. Requires 22# paper. All I had on hand was 20 and 24. So I used the 20 lb. That being said with my new seedlings. What Par value should I shoot for? I left it at about 900 when the phone is on the pots. They are up and looking good. About 8 days since sprouting.
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900? Better dial that back some. As far as the variance with wrong paper im not sure how to factor that. Most say 300,600,900 for seedling, veg, flower. I like 300, 500, 950. If you got a good ppfd 3rd party chart i would check for accuracy.
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Photon par meter 100%, FREE in app store
The photone changes drastically on iPhone depending on paper. When it’s the correct paper, the results are different from reem to reem. I compared against a photone and it was around 100-200 points away from an actual meter. I believe it was reading higher. But every single phone will read differently. For apple there is no calibration option. At least there wasn’t when I was using it. I tried both sun and led settings and they are pretty equally un accurate.
That said I did do several runs with photone and had decent results. I realized how different the readings were after getting a meter. Some meters:
I’ve not seen this one used but it’s the cheapest I’ve seen, decent ratings
The one I use
The one everyone wants to use
And this is the new improved version of 
measures a wider spectrum
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I got that wrong. I went back and checked. I had it around 500. I dialed it back to 400. Thank you very much!
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Yep. That’s the one I want. The Apogee. But the one you have will more than suffice. However I think I’m using this months budget on an Affinity T-6 pro. I think the Phone app will do for now.
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I think the calibrate part of photone is a newer option. I dont remember in the past either, but then i got a new phone. I love the calibrate part bc i have a screen protector on mine, and at 15" dead center of a hlg 350r board…its 982ppfd according to chart. So i feel mine is pretty accurate, i hope lol.
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Have you been happy with the one you use?
I was also considering this one.
The least expensive one you listed for $85 would be hard to read with the sensor attached to the display.
Thanks for any input you might have
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I’ve never used it but as long as the reviews are good I’d be willing to try it. 
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