Advice on co2

Hi everyone im just starting my second grow and it's been about a year and a half since my first. Im modifying my setup from the first time around and need some advice on co2. I bought a hydrofarm inline fan and a carbon filter for ventilation without realizing the room should be sealed to use co2. Is there any way i can get around that? I would love to still be able to use co2 and any advice would be much appreciated

Familyguy420 said:

Hi everyone im just starting my second grow and it's been about a year and a half since my first. Im modifying my setup from the first time around and need some advice on co2. I bought a hydrofarm inline fan and a carbon filter for ventilation without realizing the room should be sealed to use co2. Is there any way i can get around that? I would love to still be able to use co2 and any advice would be much appreciated

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set the fan on the filter and recirculate the air, don't exhaust it.

Great link thanks for the tip.

Personally I think CO2 is the last thing a person should add. Because u say this is your second time growing.
Do you have enough light to take advantage of the CO2? If your using CFL or T5s and light like that , there’s enough CO2 in the air.

Starting out everyone should follow KISS
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

as you dial in and max out your system , then add the CO2 .

A controller with a brain or timer is better then the photocell, plants can’t use the high amounts of c02 at 1st light .
Give 30-60min wake up time.

BigHornBuds said:

Personally I think CO2 is the last thing a person should add. Because u say this is your second time growing.
Do you have enough light to take advantage of the CO2? If your using CFL or T5s and light like that , there’s enough CO2 in the air.

Starting out everyone should follow KISS
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

as you dial in and max out your system , then add the CO2 .

A controller with a brain or timer is better then the photocell, plants can’t use the high amounts of c02 at 1st light .
Give 30-60min wake up time.

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I absolutely agree! Properly adding and regulating co2 is very complex, and expensive. In order for plants to be able to absorb high levels of co2, the environment has to be warmer than usual. You also really only use it for a few weeks, well into flower, from what I understand.

There are way easier, and less expensive ways to increase your yield and potency. So if you are trying to get more from your grow, you can try some of these things:

• Get a more powerful light
• Increase the exhaust in your grow area so you can move your light closer without overheating them
• Add a second light, or suppliment with CFLs in the corners, for example
• Keep practicing. This is important! As time goes on, you should see an increase in your yields, because you should be getting better at growing. You can double, or ever triple your yields after a few years of growing.

Best bet would be to get the most out if what you already have. After that, if you feel you need to add to your system, you'll already have a handle on your system, and you'll know how to adjust everything when adding a new component.

If you are still set on supplimenting co2, try something simple, like an active yeast bucket. There are tons of tutes out there on this. Basically, you use active Brewers yeast, sugar, and warm water to create alcohol, and producing co2 as the byproduct. I've done this a few times myself.

Also, co2 is heavier than air, so you might want to use a small fan at the bottom, to blow co2 up through the leaves.

You'll also want to do incremental exhausting. It's okay to let your grow area warm up when using co2, but not too warm. Depending on how powerful your light is will determine how often you need to exhaust. The best setup for co2 is to use an air-cooled hood, with an external air intake, to keep your hood air isolated. This allows for keeping the light temps in check without exhausting your co2 rich environment air.

I agree, Id dive right in and start with co2. Just make sure you have a controller. Awesome results will come once you get dialed in!

JSB99 said:

I absolutely agree! Properly adding and regulating co2 is very complex, and expensive. In order for plants to be able to absorb high levels of co2, the environment has to be warmer than usual. You also really only use it for a few weeks, well into flower, from what I understand.
.

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You will see huge gains in veg &
You will see the most benefit the 1st 4weeks of flower, then the benefits pasted that is up for debate like flushing or trimming etc. I run a perpetual grow, so CO2 start to finish, if your not buying bottles once your setup with a good sealed room and good equipment CO2 is cheap.

If you can maintain the proper conditions The CO2 is used as food and carbon also is used for a building block in the plant, when growth is vigorous the plant needs carbon for its cells , if it has everything it needs , growth explodes .
If you can’t maintain n provide the perfect environment for the plant to take advantage of the extras your throwing your $ away .

A decent CO2 burner will run you $150-$250 just by itself. Having a controller for it is pretty much mandatory and that'll run you another $200-$250.

If you aren't 100% dialed in then you're essentially wasting $400+ because your plants won't be able to make any use of the extra CO2 as others have said. CO2 does best with more than one light, and 600w lights at an absolute minimum. If you can't pull a pound from a single 600w light then CO2 is likely a waste as you aren't fully dialed in yet.

Don't underestimate the importance of the basics. Once you're dialed in, then spend the money

kratos015 said:

A decent CO2 burner will run you $150-$250 just by itself. Having a controller for it is pretty much mandatory and that'll run you another $200-$250.

If you aren't 100% dialed in then you're essentially wasting $400+ because your plants won't be able to make any use of the extra CO2 as others have said. CO2 does best with more than one light, and 600w lights at an absolute minimum. If you can't pull a pound from a single 600w light then CO2 is likely a waste as you aren't fully dialed in yet.

Don't underestimate the importance of the basics. Once you're dialed in, then spend the money

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Exactly! Also, if you are trying to do this in a tent, it'll be inefficient as tent's aren't airtight.

There's plenty of co2 in the air, and in your grow room. If you're in there all the time, then you are adding even more just from breathing on them. Plants have the ability to take in much more co2 because it's in their genes. A long time ago, the planet was much warmer and the co2 levels were much higher, and they retained the ability to absorb the extra amount. But, temps need to be higher for the plants to absorb extra co2.

Practice, practice, and practice more! Practice LST, topping, fimming, supercroping, and learn how to provide the optimal environment for your plants. All of those things will increase your yield, even more than if you were supplimenting co2.

JSB99 said:

Exactly! Also, if you are trying to do this in a tent, it'll be inefficient as tent's aren't airtight.

There's plenty of co2 in the air, and in your grow room. If you're in there all the time, then you are adding even more just from breathing on them. Plants have the ability to take in much more co2 because it's in their genes. A long time ago, the planet was much warmer and the co2 levels were much higher, and they retained the ability to absorb the extra amount. But, temps need to be higher for the plants to absorb extra co2.

Practice, practice, and practice more! Practice LST, topping, fimming, supercroping, and learn how to provide the optimal environment for your plants. All of those things will increase your yield, even more than if you were supplimenting co2.

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So much truth in this and I've been learning this only recently, and not just with growing but with everything. You can legitimately practice NOTHING but the basics of any craft/skill and become intermediate in terms of skill. Once the basics are reflex/muscle memory then you can start moving on into more advanced things.

Just wanted to add to how much truth there is in simply being in your room and breathing. When my tank runs out my CO2 ppms will go from 350ppm up to 600, even 700ppm just from me being in there. Another thing to consider is that if you have a living organic soil then it too will also produce CO2, especially if you have large enough containers. I have 3 25g pots full of living organic soil, my CO2 ppms rise a good 200+ppm just from watering, the microbes reproducing and eating creates CO2. No different from producing wine in fact, put yeast in the water with some fruit and sugar to eat and they'll produce the same CO2 that they will in a living soil.

I remember a guy's grow journal that documented him going from 12 30g pots to huge 4x8 raised beds and his CO2 was always over 1000ppm just from the soil. Guy's CO2 meter would read 1000ppm at a minimum constantly and he was talking about how he never had to fill his tank anymore because his soil was producing more than enough CO2. Granted the guy went from 360 gallons of soil to over 1200 gallons in his raised beds, but still.

kratos015 said:

So much truth in this and I've been learning this only recently, and not just with growing but with everything. You can legitimately practice NOTHING but the basics of any craft/skill and become intermediate in terms of skill. Once the basics are reflex/muscle memory then you can start moving on into more advanced things.

Just wanted to add to how much truth there is in simply being in your room and breathing. When my tank runs out my CO2 ppms will go from 350ppm up to 600, even 700ppm just from me being in there. Another thing to consider is that if you have a living organic soil then it too will also produce CO2, especially if you have large enough containers. I have 3 25g pots full of living organic soil, my CO2 ppms rise a good 200+ppm just from watering, the microbes reproducing and eating creates CO2. No different from producing wine in fact, put yeast in the water with some fruit and sugar to eat and they'll produce the same CO2 that they will in a living soil.

I remember a guy's grow journal that documented him going from 12 30g pots to huge 4x8 raised beds and his CO2 was always over 1000ppm just from the soil. Guy's CO2 meter would read 1000ppm at a minimum constantly and he was talking about how he never had to fill his tank anymore because his soil was producing more than enough CO2. Granted the guy went from 360 gallons of soil to over 1200 gallons in his raised beds, but still.

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You said it!

Thanks for all the replies guys it helped alot. I'm just going to keep it simple this time. Like you guys said i need to master the basics first. I have a 600 watt hps, good ventilation, and 6-4 light t5 hoods if i need them. Is 7 autoflowers in a 2x2 room to much if I'm planning to scrog?

Ya 7 is to many
1 will do fine in a 2x2


Edit .....
600HPS is a LOT of light for 2x2 .
Go BIG or go home I guess .

Well the space is actually 4x2. The tote i am growing in is 2x2. Im trying my hand at aeroponics