c02

[jakenthegentiles]

yes i know i post alot and its just because i have alot of questions and this is basicley all i think about because i find girls a waste of time and figure when i find the rite one ill know (this is due to a revalation i had on acid)
c02 i happen to have a large tank of c02 in my grage and can use it but i refuse to pay the 150 dollers for a co2 injector so would i just be abl etp put the tank in my grow room and turn it on low for a few seconds also can i have too much co2

[rodekyll]

I'm just getting started with co2, but I'll parrot the wisdom I've heard over the years (some on this very site).

You want to raise the co2 level to some density (generally around 1500-2000ppm, according to what I've been reading) and keep it there for some period of time (some say a couple hours in the early morning, some say periodically throughout the day, and some say whenever the light is on and you can afford the heat of not venting the room). Blasting the plants for a few seconds isn't going to help them, and co2 is slippery shit -- it oozes out of anywhere it can, but always downward. So you need to somehow trickle it in and contain it for a bit. I got a setup off ebay (gas regulator/solenoid and co2 monitor/relay) for about $200. It took me an afternoon to get it all wired up and installed the way I wanted it. I can monitor and adjust it from a computer. It will keep my modestly-air-tight grow space at between 1400 and 1700ppm.

Without gas my grow room is about 350-450ppm in daylight and 550-650ppm at night -- evidence I'd say of the posts here claiming that the plants exhale co2 at night.

Oh -- and for those of you wondering about breathing on your plants -- Exhaling into a paper lunch bag 3 times will raise the co2 level to about 5,000ppm. You can trap 4,000ppm by exhaling into your hands. These co2 monitors are cool!

If you pass out and die in your grow room, you have too much co2. Short of that you don't, and you won't drown the plants.

However, the plants can only use up to about 2000ppm, and as I understand it, they are further limited by the amount of light available at the leaves. I've read 8,000 lumens and 10,000 lumens are about minimal. So a 400w MH blulb is fine, but metered and regulated trickle is still the best way to not waste gas.

I'm just doing my first experiment with co2. After a week of using gas in a 28"x28"x6' area with a 400w MH bulb and five plants, I'm already convinced that $200 investment in the co2 control stuff is going to be well rewarded. The plants show an immediate response to the enrichment, and one clone (the only survivor of a sad story involving my favorite strain) that didn't root so well appears to be rehabilitating itself.

[smokesalot]

plant death at 5000 ppm
yes you can use short blasts from your tank until its gone several times a day use a fan to pick up the co2 and move it around or yoy could use the yeast,sugar,water method 2 liter bottle with air tight tube placed in cap & siliconed run the tube to a cup of water and put it in the water 3 in under put 2 cups sugar and 1/2 tsp BREWERS yeast fill with warm water and cap to hose wait 30 mins and shake bottle watch for bubbles in cup recipe can be multiplied for a larger area useing a 5 gallon bucket or a 35 gal trashcan depends on how much co2 you need

or

run a coleman lamp in your room this is cheep and easy but makes alot of heat
theres a million ways to get co2 for under $150 check the faqs

good luck

[busteruk7]

nice i got some beakers yeast today and am gonna try that cup method
will beakers yeast be ok

[Zandor]

plant death at 5000 ppm

That is what I thought but I was proved wrong. There is a point where the plant just can't absorbe the extra amount of CO² and it goes to waste.

I ran over 5000 ppm for over 2 weeks trying to kill off spider mites and it did not work. It did slow them and I could kill them with other methoids but it did not kill them or the plants. I have read levels over 25000 pmm can kill the plants by turning the air to poision and then the oxygen they produce is over powered by the CO². The roots need oxygen but the leaf does not it produces oxygen as a by-product.

Just thought I would clear this up for everyone.

[busteruk7]

what i ment to say was will bakers yeast be ok or does it have to be brewers yeast thanks all

[smokesalot]

Brewers yeast it ferments stronger and longer i tried bakers yeast and had results that only produced little to no co2 brweers yeast gose for like a week then just add more sugar

good luck

[busteruk7]

cheers smokesalot

[rodekyll]

1500 ppm, 5000ppm or 25000ppm -- how do you know, using yeast, a coleman lamp, or soda? There is no formula for these, and environmental issues such as air leaks and temperature would render a formula useless anyway. You could be completely out of the effective range with these methods, making your effort a total waste of time and money. You could also be damaging the plants. You are completely out of control. There's no way to tell without a monitor, and no way to start, limit, or stop the flow without a regulator.

Any way you look at it, the bottled co2 is the way to go.

[Jdog7000]

Co2 meter...thats how you know. Most grow shops carry them.

I use the Co2 Boost bucket. It's an organic form of co2 and it doubled my growth rate.

[LIP]

Co2 is amazing when the ppm is perfect!!! Really does make all the difffernce

[smokesalot]

i use the 2 liter bottle with yeast in a grow box and it has increased my groth rate the tank is best with a regulator but as you said $150 a pop is kind of spendy

[rodekyll]

it's about $200/pop to set up, but thereafter it ought to be less than $30/crop for me to run. The retun looks like it will be worth it.

And yes, a meter is the only way to tell how much you're getting into the atmosphere -- or you could put the neighbor's cat in there and see when it dies. But what help is knowing if you can't regulate it? The logic of this approach escapes me, even after trying it . . .

[smokesalot]

at the price of $30 bucks a crop it would worth it just because its easy and no mess and the yeast smells

[Zandor]

1500 ppm, 5000ppm or 25000ppm -- how do you know, using yeast, a coleman lamp, or soda? There is no formula for these, and environmental issues such as air leaks and temperature would render a formula useless anyway. You could be completely out of the effective range with these methods, making your effort a total waste of time and money. You could also be damaging the plants. You are completely out of control. There's no way to tell without a monitor, and no way to start, limit, or stop the flow without a regulator.

Any way you look at it, the bottled co2 is the way to go.

How do I know? I do; I mean it's been researched and reported many times. Written in grow journals and books for many years. I have several controllers my self and do my own research but when people with PhD at the end of their name tell me so I have a tendency to believe them. Don't be so arrogant in your replies you are wrong as much as you are right. (I'm trying to be nice here).
I agree bottle CO² is great and having a controller is wonderful and controlling the environment is what I preach here everyday. But CO² is one of those things where even a little is better then nothing. Hell 99% of the people can't produce enough to do any harm anyway. Controlling CO² is the way to go but that does not mean if you can't afford the whole setup you should not do something.

There are many formulas around, hell even I have posted several of them here myself for people. Even though I don't need to use them anymore.

You can use math to caculate the amount of CO² build up you need.
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp
They have a nice calculator you may find helpful.

Normal air has about 300 ppm on average so if you produce 500 ppm then your plants are receiving 800 ppm of CO² and that's better then nothing you must admit that fact.

It's not a total waste of time and money now is it? The only real waste is not to try and not willing to learn don't you think?

It's a hobby and playing is half the fun.:dance:

[Jdog7000]

Totally agree Zandor!
And even a little bit of CO2 is alot better then none.

[smokesalot]

I agree even a little co2 is better than none and
even a little try is better than none even if it dosnt work the first time or secand

[busteruk7]

plant death at 5000 ppm
yes you can use short blasts from your tank until its gone several times a day use a fan to pick up the co2 and move it around or yoy could use the yeast,sugar,water method 2 liter bottle with air tight tube placed in cap & siliconed run the tube to a cup of water and put it in the water 3 in under put 2 cups sugar and 1/2 tsp BREWERS yeast fill with warm water and cap to hose wait 30 mins and shake bottle watch for bubbles in cup recipe can be multiplied for a larger area useing a 5 gallon bucket or a 35 gal trashcan depends on how much co2 you need

or

run a coleman lamp in your room this is cheep and easy but makes alot of heat
theres a million ways to get co2 for under $150 check the faqs

good luck
cheers buddy i took ya advice and did a bottle co2 thingy

[the image reaper]

BusterUk, that little green feller in your garden looks seriously stoned ... or is he just getting too much CO2 ?? :stoned:

[busteruk7]

maybe a bit of both pmsl :)

[smokesalot]

looks good simple and effective

[smokesalot]

you might want to put your cup of water above the plant on a shelf or something since co2 is heaver than air it will fall down on top of the whole plant

[busteruk7]

yeah i might do that if i heave enuff space to build a shelf
cheers all :)

[smokesalot]

i drilled a hole alittle smaller than my tube in the lid of a jar and stuffed the tubeing thru the hole in the center down into the water then i drilled alot of little holes in the top of the lid then i hung the jar from the wall above the plants by the hose then when you need more water in the jar just unscrew it and take the jar off

this is the system that i have been useing it seems to work better than nothing maybe this will give you a few ideas
good luck

[Moose101]

or you could put the neighbor's cat in there and see when it dies.


Hope your neighbor isn't schrodinger, bet he'd have something to say.