CO2 question

Hi, guys - I've been growing for 6 years now to a fairly high standard. I have a perpetual cycle of 3 plants every 3 weeks (9 in total) from clones vegging for 6 - 9 weeks under t5's from rooting, 100watts until they are around 14 inches before going to flower room. Flower room has a 400 watt MH and a 600-watt hps. The setup produces around 55 - 65g dry bud per plant (150 - 200g per 3-week cycle ) I grow in Plagran light mix soil. Use advanced nutrients sensi grow and bloom. Use RO water and cal mag. I grow Green House Seeds Exodus cheese plants, as the are relatively small plants but a strong product with tight buds for the bag factor.

I feel that I know my system inside and out and now have enough knowledge to venture down the CO2 route. I have read varying reports on increased yields. I have looked online, but this seems to be one aspect of growing that I can find very little information on. I would be interested in a bottled CO2 system.

Can anyone provide any info on this setup. or links to articles or youtube vids. Perhaps I am not using the correct terminology in the search engines.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

Regards

Chris

BUMP - Anyone?

If you run co2 you will want leaf temp at approx ~80-85 F and seal up your room so you are not sucking all your co2 out. You can exchange air a few times a day if you want, I do with my room. Run anywhere from 900-1500 ppm of co2, although I have read anything over ~1200 ppm is not very useful, I run at 1150-1200 ppm. You may need to feed a little more nutrients as well and you will want to be at 1000+ ppfd light range to utilize the additional co2.
I run ~80F canopy temps and ~70% humidity with lights on (VPD) 50-55% with lights off at ~71F.

I use an atlas 1 co2 controller and a co2 burner, not bottles.. cheaper overall using propane but you will have additional heat with the burner and have a room it will be safe to hang and use one. I use an ares 10 co2 burner, you would need a smaller one obviously with only 9 plants and small space. A bottle may work fine in your situation though and not go through a ton with a small space. You can use the atlas 1 with bottles as well, just need the regulator for the bottle. Hope this helps.

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-atlas-1-co2-monitor-controller-with-remote-sensor

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-ares-10-ten-burner-co2-generators

Regulator for bottles

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-co2-regulator

Sounds to me like you have a good thing going. Id be happy with what your already reaping.

linky said:

If you run co2 you will want leaf temp at approx ~80-85 F and seal up your room so you are not sucking all your co2 out. You can exchange air a few times a day if you want, I do with my room. Run anywhere from 900-1500 ppm of co2, although I have read anything over ~1200 ppm is not very useful, I run at 1150-1200 ppm. You may need to feed a little more nutrients as well and you will want to be at 1000+ ppfd light range to utilize the additional co2.
I run ~80F canopy temps and ~70% humidity with lights on (VPD) 50-55% with lights off at ~71F.

I use an atlas 1 co2 controller and a co2 burner, not bottles.. cheaper overall using propane but you will have additional heat with the burner and have a room it will be safe to hang and use one. I use an ares 10 co2 burner, you would need a smaller one obviously with only 9 plants and small space. A bottle may work fine in your situation though and not go through a ton with a small space. You can use the atlas 1 with bottles as well, just need the regulator for the bottle. Hope this helps.

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-atlas-1-co2-monitor-controller-with-remote-sensor

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-ares-10-ten-burner-co2-generators

Regulator for bottles

http://www.titancontrols.net/shop/product/titan-controls-co2-regulator

Click to expand...

Thanks Linky - Appreciate you taking the time to answer. Really helpful info you provided mate. After doing some more research I have decided to purchase a
OrangeA Co2 Generator Nature Gas 4 Burner Carbon Dioxide Generator from amazon. Its the propane gas one, which I would prefer over the co2 canisters than my nosey neighbours would be very suspicious of. I shall update you in a few weeks to let you know how I get on with it.

Chris

Resinman1921 said:

Sounds to me like you have a good thing going. Id be happy with what your already reaping.

Click to expand...

Thanks Resinman

Always want to improve on both quality and yield

Chris

Do u have cooling in place, you'll need it I would think.

^ What he said. Your room size and cooling info would help. If the area is small enough I would go with a bottle, so you aren't adding more heat into the mix. At this point a mini-split would be needed or a duel hose AC. Another thing that will also be needed when sealed is a dehumidifier. Add all this heat up with the lights to make sure you end up with a large enough AC.

If my c02 gen failed I'd replace it next day without a shrug. matter of fact I have a spare one on the wall at the ready in case. the one I use now was my spare while I repaired the other.

the only way to know is to get a meter. test your plant canopy, in the leaves of flowering plants at mid day/hottest time. if that falls below 300 your plants are not getting the necessary resources for full expression. your plants grow to their weakest resource. c02 is weak in a room without constant air flow especially when temperatures rise.
no matter what you do controls are needed. temps and rh will rise and must be managed. if done so correctly you will see smell weigh and taste the difference = I do. I've skipped a few days of c02 and thought it was no biggy but all in all they should be allowed to breathe all they are capable of breathing-very important in high heat.

No point to CO2 until you hit 1000W.
Think CO2 as a fuel and the amount of light as the gas pedal.

I would be concerned using it in the house. Big legal grows have CO2 alarms that ring at the fire station if they detect errors.

nevergoodenuf said:

^ What he said. Your room size and cooling info would help. If the area is small enough I would go with a bottle, so you aren't adding more heat into the mix. At this point a mini-split would be needed or a duel hose AC. Another thing that will also be needed when sealed is a dehumidifier. Add all this heat up with the lights to make sure you end up with a large enough AC.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply

Ok Room sizes

The flower room is 6ft X 4ft X 10 feet high

The veg tent/wardrobe is 4ft X 4ft X 6ft

Both of these 'Rooms' are situated inside a 12ft X 15ft X 10ft spare bedroom.

The flower room has a 6-inch fan connected to the two cool tube hoods (from another) connecting room venting out through the roof space.

Average temps in the flower room just (summer time here) now are about 26 - 30 degrees (lights on) 18 - 22 lights off.

My plan is to set the CO2 GEN up in the large room where it can "flood" both the smaller rooms with CO2 which shouldn't affect the flower room temps too much as the venting fan is pulling cold air from the adjacent room in the house.

Thanks again for commenting

Chris

chemphlegm said:

If my c02 gen failed I'd replace it next day without a shrug. matter of fact I have a spare one on the wall at the ready in case. the one I use now was my spare while I repaired the other.

the only way to know is to get a meter. test your plant canopy, in the leaves of flowering plants at mid day/hottest time. if that falls below 300 your plants are not getting the necessary resources for full expression. your plants grow to their weakest resource. c02 is weak in a room without constant air flow especially when temperatures rise.
no matter what you do controls are needed. temps and rh will rise and must be managed. if done so correctly you will see smell weigh and taste the difference = I do. I've skipped a few days of c02 and thought it was no biggy but all in all they should be allowed to breathe all they are capable of breathing-very important in high heat.

Click to expand...

Thanks for commenting mate...

Chris

splifchris said:

Thanks for the reply

Ok Room sizes

The flower room is 6ft X 4ft X 10 feet high

The veg tent/wardrobe is 4ft X 4ft X 6ft

Both of these 'Rooms' are situated inside a 12ft X 15ft X 10ft spare bedroom.

The flower room has a 6-inch fan connected to the two cool tube hoods (from another) connecting room venting out through the roof space.

Average temps in the flower room just (summer time here) now are about 26 - 30 degrees (lights on) 18 - 22 lights off.

My plan is to set the CO2 GEN up in the large room where it can "flood" both the smaller rooms with CO2 which shouldn't affect the flower room temps too much as the venting fan is pulling cold air from the adjacent room in the house.

Thanks again for commenting

Chris

Click to expand...

I'm no expert on CO2 but I bought all the shit to hook up bottles as well as a step valve and DC controller ..... then I thought fuck do I really need more shit to do/monitor lol. I would also need to run a sub panel to the shed . Anyways I digress lol, the point I was going to make is if trying to distribute it to three rooms you may want to duct a few intakes on the floor and redistribute at the ceiling to keep it in the canopy .

Great idea mate... and simple enough to implement... going to be a few weeks before i have the cash to purchase so ill keep yours informed on how i get on.

chris

I see mentions of bottles and burners, what about the au naturale Exhale bags? I've used them and think I've noticed a difference (2 bags in a 4x4 tent). Although I don't have a CO2 meter to verify they work, I saw a video on youtube where a guy measured the air in his tent with Exhale bags and they did in fact work. There's pros and cons to every method and for this one the biggest pro is there is a whole lot less shit to deal with if you just hang a couple fungus bags in there...

Chuckdizzle said:

I see mentions of bottles and burners, what about the au naturale Exhale bags? I've used them and think I've noticed a difference (2 bags in a 4x4 tent). Although I don't have a CO2 meter to verify they work, I saw a video on youtube where a guy measured the air in his tent with Exhale bags and they did in fact work. There's pros and cons to every method and for this one the biggest pro is there is a whole lot less shit to deal with if you just hang a couple fungus bags in there...

Click to expand...

sure every bit helps, they breath it right. I kept mash brewing full time in my tents, I did have a meter though and it added plenty of c02 to my tent, non controlled? who cares. I can work an hour in my room and watch the meter rise, I say grow in your living room! FTW

or choose your fungus wisely for bonus