CO2 Idea, any thoughts?

Kiera

Kiera

Member
Hey y'all, I was channeling 7th grade science and Mr. Wizard and thought of a cheap and easy way to enrich with CO2. I'm looking for someone with a scientific mind to tell me why this won't work. I remembered using a soda bottle and mixing vinegar and baking soda to fill up a balloon attached to the mouth of the bottle, then i also remembered if you put some scotch tape over a balloon and poke it with a pin the balloon doesn't pop, it just slowly releases the CO2 produced from the vinegar/baking soda reaction. Do you think this is a viable way to add CO2 to my plants? If I hung the balloons above my plants and let it slowly diffuse into the ambient air? Did I just come up with the best idea ever, or is this common practice? Discuss amongst yourselves.
 
slk

slk

Well-Known Member
how much gas do you think that bottle will make.
I just lock my dog in the grow room and he maks CO2 all day long as well as a good supply of
fertilizer too
 
highaltitude

highaltitude

Active Member
What you say works, but it's not enough, sustained.
I think a simple yeast/sugar would work better. - better yet, start brewing your own beer or wine, and let the CO2 into your grow-room.
Vinegar and baking soda is a reaction that only lasts for seconds. If you use yeast and sugar - suspended in water, at least you have a reaction that will last for days. If it's enough CO2 only depends on if you use enough yeast,sugar and water.
A cleaner method is CO2 out of a bottle - but that's not what you asked. I use water/yeast/sugar - it works, on a relatively small scale.
 
Kiera

Kiera

Member
highaltitude said:
What you say works, but it's not enough, sustained.
I think a simple yeast/sugar would work better. - better yet, start brewing your own beer or wine, and let the CO2 into your grow-room.
Vinegar and baking soda is a reaction that only lasts for seconds. If you use yeast and sugar - suspended in water, at least you have a reaction that will last for days. If it's enough CO2 only depends on if you use enough yeast,sugar and water.
A cleaner method is CO2 out of a bottle - but that's not what you asked. I use water/yeast/sugar - it works, on a relatively small scale.
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I understand what you are saying, but what I was proposing was filling a balloon with the CO2 from the baking soda/acetic acid reaction and letting it slowly leak out over time with the pin pricks through the pieces of tape. I think I am going to try both, I'm small scale too and have never added CO2 before so we'll see how it goes. I have 10 little seedlings that just popped their heads out of the dirt yesterday so Imma give it a go.
 
Mr.Therapy Man

Mr.Therapy Man

Well-Known Member
Im getting co2 boost this week,its mushroom compost that releases 80 ppm in a 10x10 room for three months.(135.00)...peace
 
J

jackdirty

New Member
Mr.Therapy Man said:
Thats 800 ppms ,my typing sucks donkey d.....peace out
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dont waste your money i didnt see any real results when i used one.. im now fucking with a co2 timer reg and 20lbs tank and i see a noticable differance before i wouldnt even have that many flowers at week 3 now i have buds that are super hairy all my plants are healthy!
 
Kiera

Kiera

Member
I know you didn't mean it that way, but small scale doesn't necessarily mean half-assed. Right now the seedlings are under a four bulb T5HO fixture and in two weeks they'll go under a 1000W MH then HPS for flowering (switchable ballast). I have a ducted, filtered exhaust system and monitor humidity, temp, Ph and all that jazz. As far as nutes I go from Grow Big to Big Bloom and finish it off with Tiger Bloom. I was just trying to think of something crafty vs. shelling out more dough for a fancy CO2 injection system.
 
Mr.Therapy Man

Mr.Therapy Man

Well-Known Member
Thanks Jackdirty you just saved me some cash,Im going to go ahead and get a tank and regulater this week .My yields are good now but theres always room for improvement......peace
 
Kiera

Kiera

Member
Ok, after further research, for my situation this is a horrible idea. To make enough CO2 to enrich an 8x8x8 space I would need 2lbs. of baking soda and 5 gallons of vinegar daily. Apparently muratic acid (HCL) works more effectively, but hydrochloric acid can also be pretty dangerous. According to my scientist pal, it would be an effective enrichment method for a small closet grow, however.
 
maxwelljr

maxwelljr

Active Member
Kiera said:
Ok, after further research, for my situation this is a horrible idea. To make enough CO2 to enrich an 8x8x8 space I would need 2lbs. of baking soda and 5 gallons of vinegar daily. Apparently muratic acid (HCL) works more effectively, but hydrochloric acid can also be pretty dangerous. According to my scientist pal, it would be an effective enrichment method for a small closet grow, however.
Click to expand...
If you have a relatively confined room and you don't want to spend bucks then I would definitely suggest using yeast and sugar.
 
Kiera

Kiera

Member
maxwelljr said:
If you have a relatively confined room and you don't want to spend bucks then I would definitely suggest using yeast and sugar.
Click to expand...
Check this out, it says that if you spend 70 minutes a day inside the room it produces enough CO2 to make it to that magic 1500ppm number. There are so many variables, though. I'm thinking I should buy something to meter what the actual CO2 content of my air is.

http://www.gardenscure.com/2009/01/04/co2-enrichment-guide/
 
J

jackdirty

New Member
for co2 to work it has to be constant ppm becuase what will happen is youll produce that co2but your plants are gonna use it up and when you leave your room it would definatly go back down too 300ppm my two cents
 
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