Cheap Co2

When using 2 liter bottles half filled with sugar water and yeast(to produce Co2), is there any measurements at all that should be followed for how much sugar, and yeast?

Good question i wana know myself

i guess you dont have to measure nothing? no responses? anyone else use this method?

You will likely not get enough CO2 off your bottle to be photosynthetically useful. That being said, use 16 oz of sugar in the 2 liter bottle, add warm water 3/4 of the way up and shake until the sugar is dissolved, then pour a pack of bakers yeast in it with another little shake. Do not fill you bottle up all the way! This will give roughly a 7 day supply of CO2 in minute amounts.

Drill a hole in the cap of the bottle and insert a 1/4 inch drip line or tubing. Route this line above you plant since CO2 is heavier that air and will flow downwards.

You can get a useful amount of CO2 for a small grow (say 2 square feet) if you use a 24 hour turbo yeast. This type of yeast can handle a higher alcohol content and more efficiently consumes the sugar but you need a pound of sugar a day per bottle.

Hope this helps!

techhead420 said:

You will likely not get enough CO2 off your bottle to be photosynthetically useful. That being said, use 16 oz of sugar in the 2 liter bottle, add warm water 3/4 of the way up and shake until the sugar is dissolved, then pour a pack of bakers yeast in it with another little shake. Do not fill you bottle up all the way! This will give roughly a 7 day supply of CO2 in minute amounts.

Drill a hole in the cap of the bottle and insert a 1/4 inch drip line or tubing. Route this line above you plant since CO2 is heavier that air and will flow downwards.

You can get a useful amount of CO2 for a small grow (say 2 square feet) if you use a 24 hour turbo yeast. This type of yeast can handle a higher alcohol content and more efficiently consumes the sugar but you need a pound of sugar a day per bottle.

Hope this helps!

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holy hell, so i guess its really not worth it? Be better off gettin the mini co2 canisters, )paintball, bb guns) and covering plants with a trash bag and letting them have at that for a little huh?

Yeah, I don't mean to ruin anyone's day but I honestly don't think it's worth it. Save your money and get a 20 pound CO2 tank is what I use and recommend. They cost $80 or so and about $15 to refill. If you buy a smaller 5 pound tank you'll likely end up getting a 20 pound tank to replace it. They cost about the same to refill.

Plants will ONLY take in CO2 when exposed to light and not when convered with a trash bag. It's also a continuous process so that idea of giving a plant a heavy shot of CO2 and thinking that it's going to help just is not so.

techhead420 said:

Yeah, I don't mean to ruin anyone's day but I honestly don't think it's worth it. Save your money and get a 20 pound CO2 tank is what I use and recommend. They cost $80 or so and about $15 to refill. If you buy a smaller 5 pound tank you'll likely end up getting a 20 pound tank to replace it. They cost about the same to refill.

Plants will ONLY take in CO2 when exposed to light and not when convered with a trash bag. It's also a continuous process so that idea of giving a plant a heavy shot of CO2 and thinking that it's going to help just is not so.

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good advice, so you continuously give em co2 from the tanks and not just occasionally?

EverythingISayIsPRETEND said:

good advice, so you continuously give em co2 from the tanks and not just occasionally?

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What he means is, a short shot of cO2 on your plants isn't going to effect your grow.

if you were to get the tank and use it every couple of days from when the light turned on to when the lights turn off, it'll make a difference.
The idea is to use it every day, when the lights are on.

Then you'll see an improvement in your grow.

No point doing it half arsed with those cartridges, go the whole hog and get the job done properly

Any time that the lights are on your plants are going to be consuming carbon dioxide. Here's a very simplified photosynthesis equation:

6 H2O (water) + 6 CO2 (carbon dioxide) + <light energy> gives C6H12O6 (sugar) + 6 O2 (oxygen)

Basically it says we need six carbon dioxide molecules to make one sugar molecule and sugar molecules are then used to make startch and cellulose which is what most of the plant is composed of. The sugar is also used as a carbo source and is the only way that the roots can use carbohydrates (adding sugar to the soil will NOT work).

So, it's a continual process and there's a point where the light intensity will be so high that the low levels of ambient carbon dioxide in the air start to be a limitation in greater plant growth so we need to boost the carbon dioxide levels.

Most people will have a photo sensor or a timer controlling a solenoid which injects CO2 in to the flowering chamber when ever the lights are on. More sophisticated and effective controllers also take into account temperature and humidity.

A good CO2 system can be a little pricey up front but they do pay for themselves many times over very quickly.

Don't use a CO2 setup without a ppm monitoring/controller. Too much will poison the plants (but a 10 minute blast of 5000ppm+ can kill pests from what I've read)

Without the ppm regulation, better off with the yeast/sugar or vinegar/baking soda(powder? always get them mixed up)

unless you're running a sealed room, or you have no way (at all) of exchanging the air in your grow area, supplemental co2 is a waste. the conditions needed for the plant to use/benefit from the co2 will most likely not be met. the stomata decides how much co2 is used. unless the required temps are reached (which cause the stomata to open wider) the plant can't utilize the additional co2.

Silky Shagsalot said:

unless you're running a sealed room, or you have no way (at all) of exchanging the air in your grow area, supplemental co2 is a waste. the conditions needed for the plant to use/benefit from the co2 will most likely not be met. the stomata decides how much co2 is used. unless the required temps are reached (which cause the stomata to open wider) the plant can't utilize the additional co2.

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ooh oooh ooh! Thats what I was looking for. Thanks