unlimited cheap c02

c02 is inexpensive. four to eight to sixteen 1 gallon jugs (w/ handle if possible) of orange/grape/any kind of juice from dollar store. big bag of sugar from dollar store. old raisins from dollar store. a few apples, pears, oranges, pineapples, fruit cocktail canned fruits, grapefruits, potatoes, rice and a piece of bread/handful of ramen/pasta/oats/wheat etc.

empty about half of each jug into a pail/bucket for later. now make the kicker.

cut up the fruit and indiscriminately push the above items into the jugs w/ about a cup of sugar. just to start the process. since your kicker is new, it will probably take all of 2-3 days before the pressure builds up inside of those jugs.

the fizz/rush of rotten fruit funk+spoiling juice will rush out at you.

this is c02.

drill a hole(s) in the tops of your jugs. put your finger over the hole and shake every day. keep the jugs in your indoor vegetable/fruit garden, preferably behind/in front of fans. tubing onto jug lids and wrapped around/on top of fruits is also option.

supply sugar/syrup/jelly/honey/skittles/peppermint etc. to jugs every few days, shake jugs daily. can keep warm w/ towels/old cut blankets wrapped around. end product is good drink as well, if wanted. will turn into vinegar if not supplied w/ sugar. can/should pour off quarter-third of juice every week-10 days and pour into juice (can be old/spoiled). keep sediment/rotting fruit/potatoes/rice in bottom of jugs - this is the jugs individual kicker.

can keep kicker separate in 1 gal jug and simple add small cup full (few ounces) to new jug of juice so as not to maintain lots of fruit particles/slush in individual jugs.

as much c02 as needed for under 20 pieces of gold.

to push ppm up, use 5-10 gal buckets/tubs+use more sugar+keep heated w/ cheap immersion heater (dollar store). can even place outside of room and vent/fan into room/tubes/exacting position(s) over/under/around plants w/ simple air hose tubing. expandable to meet any ppm need.

10-20 gal tote (like a res) can easily be kept outside of room, heated/sugared/juiced and vented/tubed into desired area(s). the entire tote will be bubbling. throw in old air stone(s)/simple tubing w/out airstones connected to tiny pump to agitate/pop bubbles on surface of liquid mash. the surface of the mash will be a floating mass of your kicker. this is c02.

to increase c02 production, add more rice/fruit innards/apples/grapefruits/raisins less juice. but keep feeding a little juice at a time w/ lots of sugar. more maintenance, but more c02. can pour hot water into the jugs/tote, but if lots of c02 is desired would use cheap immersion heater and keep the tub supplied w/ the above cheap raw materials.

can use water, yeast (bread) and sugar too, if juice is not avail. no limits to the amount of c02 produced. at most 5-10 coins a week on juice/sugar/jelly.

note: kicker (mash) will float to top when cooking vigorously. will settle to bottom/decrease bubbles when slowing cooking. this is signal that more sugar/juice is needed. shake after new ingredients applied.

also, be careful not to fill the jugs/totes up too full of juice/mash. it WILL overflow and spill. if the holes are not big enough in the tops of the jugs/tote/buckets, the pressure WILL bust he top off.

do not place in jugs/tote w/ seal top. a mess WILL occur. the pressure from the cooking must be released. this is how you know it is working+c02 is being released.

note 2: have never used a c02 meter w/ this method, or otherwise. would be interesting to see how high the ppm levels reach w/ 10-20 coins worth of common raw materials. probability of reaching desired 1500-2000 ppm w/ a 10-20 gal tote filled w/ juice+kicker is high.

will some one w/ a meter do this w/ a simple 5 gal bucket to see if the method is soundly quantifiable/measurable w/ reference to specific amounts of juice?

for example, given a 5 gal jug w/ orange juice, a week old kicker, and a pound of sugar a week, what will your average c02 ppm be?

note 3: by product consumable. done when no/very little sweetness tasted+no bubbling. good w/ tomatoes/veggies...

note 4: good idea to practice this method w/ a single gal jug to get the hang/observe properties of mix/see pressure build up w/out hole in top of jug/see effect of pouring sugar into jug/smell mix/taste mix/try different fruits/syrups/candies for final flavors/observe when cooking ceases.

save old wine bottles/corks for preservation of final product. mason jars work fine.

note 4: good idea to practice this method w/ a single gal jug to get the hang/observe properties of mix/see pressure build up w/out hole in top of jug/see effect of pouring sugar into jug/smell mix/taste mix/try different fruits/syrups/candies for final flavors/observe when cooking ceases.

save old wine bottles/corks for preservation of final product. mason jars work fine.

And then when you're done, you can drink your pruno prison booze.

......

PRUNO! LOL! funny
I think that stuff would be good to feed your outdoor plants, yes?

once the kicker is started and kept it will gain strength. the effect more than likely be surprising to those who have not tried it. depending on practice/degree of attention the intitial final product can be quite effective.

... this can be further processed into various flavored/aged/sweetened/soured/diluted mixtures of choice.

or dispose of it.

the primary target is the by-product of the reaction itself: cheaply/easily acquired c02 w/out gens/bottles/etc. that can be modified to provide exacty same function as gens/bottles/etc.

the bacteria eat sugar so perhaps would eat sugar on/in roots. untested. karo syrup/quality soda (w/ pure sugar/pure corn syrup w/out the high fructose are options for alternative feeding.

I would think that you would not want to use soda. It's high level of acidity inhibits bacteria growth, with this you want to maximize bacterial growth so sticking to straight sugar would probably be best.

You could just make an indoor compost pile. Or compost stew or something.

as far as the soda... was providing option for outdoor plants greyskull considered watering/feeding w/ liquid product of reaction: drank.
no, soda would not work as a primary sugar source, but can as a supplement to candy/now-laters/peppermint/butterscotch/etc.
soda can be minimally applied to rez/soilless mix/etc. jones/jaritos (mexican - non-high fruc corn syrup)/kinds found in the eco-friendly section of the general store.
nearly every possible foodstuff/condiment can/has been used for sugar substitute in the process described above: ketchup/bbq sauce/frosting/icing/honey/etc.
any juice will work as well. old apples can be sqeezed in socks. apples take longer to cook, is thicker than grapefruit juice and will retain some sweetness. orange juice works well. try to stay away from synthethic sugar supp juice (splen/aspartan/sacc/etc.). the 'lite'/'light' juices are avoided. check nutritional info.
once the kicker(s) is established sugar must be continually added to mix(es). the cook will mature faster as months go by. the bubbling will slow down in a couple days rather than the 5-7 of the initial runs. drain/replentish with new juice/small piece of raw potatoe(vod)/hand full of unccoked rice(saki)/grain to continually renew kicker.

far easier to manage a regular 5-20 gal bucket/tub than several small jugs in bigger setting. just pipe/flex tube/air circulate as would tank/gen c02. can keep in/out of room. micro veggie garden folks can always have/make c02 to meet their settings' needs. a few old soda bottles w/ the above simple mix should enhance tomatoes' c02 intake. no loss w/ it there w/ great probability that the plant will respond to the gas introduced into the tiny/small/large environment.

I use a similar technique using yeast, sugar and warm water. Works great and smells like bread rising. 1 lb yeast costs $3 and sugar is cheap too. My grow room smells like marijuana and bread.....yum yum

The alcohol content of the pour off would kill plants, IMO.

How do you plan on regulating CO2 levels? Or even see if it's helping at all and most not sucked right out, leaving you only with a placebo effect and wasted time?

measuring efficacy/efficiency of c02 methods/c02 absoption

measuring efficacy/efficiency of c02 methods/c02 absoption

measuring efficacy/efficiency

utilize same instruments used w/ common c02 systems. do not these measuring instruments fail ~1/5-8 of the time?

utilize the bubble counters that come w/ cheap aquatic plant c02 gen machines

go high tech and acquire a bas (building automated systems[hvac industry]) system that would measure all gases in environs

increase surface area of the container in which the contents are producing c02. square plastic troughs found at any/all general stores. circular container possess less surface area.

agitate surface of mix. surface tension of the mix will decrease ability of bubbles to burst. generally atmospheric pressure is ~ 16# per sq ''. help the bubbles burst by placing air wands close to the surface of the square (?2'x3'[or spec build the container=best]) vessel.

50-150-? cfm fan ducted to step down pvc/hose/etc from external batch into room

do control: do another step down from intake of c02 to 1/8 air tubing and literally wrap around vegetables like training. observe same genetic next to w/out tubing. determine viability in that specific environment.

the bubbling effect+odor will clearly be observed. this is c02. the question is, evidently, can a simple contraption rival machines? (gens/tanks/etc). answer unknown. this forum explores such questions from thousands of perspectives. answer(s) will become known in time if interest occurs.

c02 being sucked out

room not constructed air tight. nothing to do w/ c02 production.

another perspective may be that the plants have absorption rates that are non-linear (like a tiny plant being that way for a couple weeks, and then, over night, being nearly double the size).

consider methods of monitoring actual c02 assimilation by plants themselves w/ instruments diy built. the high tech scenarios are endless.

begin be code/supercode/cleanroom industry standards for environ construction, downsize model(s) to suit desires.

first

do test w/ soda bottle w/ small tube directly over small lettuce. lettuce w/out direct inject elsewhere/same environ conditions otherwise. note if this method is worth it for own situation.

ultra high tech in a small package: biomass production system+science eval unit from orbitec. up to 10,000 ppm c02. space lettuce. tech is already old. little box size of dog kennel. possible to construct w/ avail products.

or

go low tech and throw some juice+sugar in a bucket

check air leaks/square room/make sure inner-seal separating a/c sides (if using) is sealed/make sure a/c is not constructed to exchange external air (some have external vent capability)

I agree, yeast and sugar is much simpler. This method is quite commonly used by people keeping aquatic plants in their aquarium. There are a few other common household ingredients you can add to make the mix last a little longer, but I don't recall what they are. Go to any fish keeping site for lots of DIY CO2 generator recipes.

One thing, in my experience, this does not generate a lot of CO2 and the supply is not very constant or controllable.

Oh, and I always thought it smelled like stale beer, not that pleasant to me anyway.

very constant+controllable w/ minimal attention every 2-3 days. like watering. just add sugar+new juice and the cook can/will continue ad infinitum.
do a run w/ meter/gauges/etc to see if the levels get to 500-750-1000-1500 ppm. a rectangular ez clone type tub will maximize surface area=more bubbles.
these are simply options. not attempting to roll a square wheel. just providing options. if gardeners are inclined to go med-high tech, they will.
if the general objective is efficiency/fiscal discipline, then this MAY be an option. if not, meters/regs/tanks/gens/etc. are other options.
high tech is amazing, but low tech can be as well. either 50 psi aero or water-only pre-mix organic will achieve desired results w/ practice of the art.