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4 THOSE OF YOU THAT USE CO2
- Thread starter jojajico
- Start date
G
Guest
My god man how big is your room!!?You must be pounding the room with co2 at that rate.Are you using a burner or tank and reg.?Cyclestat timer or controller?
ballastman said:
I go through a 20 lb tank in about 6-7 days. 16 very large plants. Sealed. A/C only runs a few times during the night, never in the day. Temps at 85-88 F. I run at 1500ppm right now (week 3), move up to 1700ppm at peak nutrient level (1600ppm, week 5), stop 2 weeks before harvest. You stop before harvest because CO2 will rob you of taste and odor. Wont affect the quality/quantity of the trichromes but it can make your stuff tasteless and odorless. Depends on the PPM you use and for how long you are using that ppm. The lowest my PPM hits in a day is 1400 or 1450 when set at 1500. The differential of my controller is goes between 50 and 100 ppm depending on what the controller thinks is best.
CO2 doesnt inherently raise humidity but the higher temperatures you use can raise humidity. My problem is that when I run 88 degrees F in the room, my buckets and water lines which are at 68 degrees F, swear and condensate like mad. This creates a lot of humidity as there is a lot of water evaporating.
If you have to vent in the day (and you shouldnt have too), then you want to make sure your CO2 cycle is atleast 45 minutes and preferably an hour before venting. You should vent atleast once during the night, as this will help lower the CO2 levels. If I do not run my A/C a few times (NOT on recirculation, this is where the A/C actually does remove air from the room) at night then my PPM will stay over 1000. If I do run my A/C (i keep night temps at 72 F so it goes on once or twice an hour at night) then my PPM levels stay around 600-700.
My problem is that because I do not run my A/C during the day, I need to run the dehumidifier 24/7. I would not be able to achieve 88 degrees if I didnt use the dehumidifier and I also would have a relative humidity of 70 %. I have a hard time getting the RH below 50% in the day because of my high temps and because of the condensation from the buckets.
G
Guest
dubracer is there any literature talking about reduced smell and taste using co2 until the end?I do a perpetual gorw and use co2 until the end and sure havent noticed a decrease in smell.I dont understand why you dont run the AC during the day,it would give your dehumidifier a bit of a break.I use a window unit and a dehumdifier and get 2 gallons of water daily from an 8 by 8 room
G
Guest
After a pretty extensive google check,I can find nothing saying co2 enrichment affects smell or potency,I've found plenty that says to use the enrichment until harvest,here's just 1 example.http://www.greenmanspage.com/guides/.If you can find anything,I'm still interested although I swear this hasnt been my experience at all,my strains couldnt be much stinkier
N
Neptune
Alright , just read the whole thread.. let's see if I can clear some things up as I have just started educating myself on these issues a few months ago..
I own a CAP GEN-1 NG burner, with 4 burners.. and a CAP PPM-1 monitor/controller.
~$700.00 for the both of them... no tanks or refills needed, I added a NG line into my room. This is a good combo, but there are a few things to consider about generators:
1) gen's make heat
2) gen's make humidity
3) need AC, and dehumidification
AC should run during lights on 80-85F with CO2 ppm 1000-1800
Dehumidification should run during lights off, setpoint around 60% during veg and early bloom, and 40% for later bloom
So, now consider that probably HALF of your growroom's total power consumption is spent on climatic controllers. Accept it, and move on. Or use fresh outside night air, much cheaper, and easier.
CO2 should only be enriched during "lights on" periods, enrichment during "lights off" does not harm anything, but the plants do not use it...IE. wasted. Plant respiratory functions are shutdown for sleep.
Here's my unique example, unique to me, and maybe a few others...
I keep my CO2 PPMs at 1000 for a few reasons,
1) My room leaks bad, I mean way bad.
-The leaks are bad enough that when the burner is running full boar, I cannot enrich my room to PPMs above 1300.. what this means is that the burner is just ON 100%, which adds considerable heat and humidity to my equation, thus making it very expensive to control.
at 1000ppm I don't have to run my AC, which saves me about 1500 watts, Nor do I currently run dehumidification, saves me another 800 watts. Eventually, I will have to run Dehumidification, after week 4 of bloom... my lights off humidity is around 70%
Also, CO2 should be turned off for the last 2 weeks of bloom. I don't know why, I can't help here... but everyone says the same thing: turn that shit off, or your buds will have no flavor/smell.
In my mind, it's like this.... 90%+ of the plant growth is done, the plant is settleing down and ready to die... Autum has come, and the old lady is ready to take her final nap... not much more growth is happening, just ripening of the buds... and for this, I don't think CO2 is needed, so save some money and turn it off... (then you won't need as much AC and possibly humidity control -- additional savings).
ok, morning ramblings over... all good questions and a great thread.
+++
PS.
Unless you WANT the heat, all lights should be aircooled... period.
^^^^^
This is the single most important factor for indoor growing, way above CO2. Cool your fuckin' lights people... you will be able to bring your lights closer to the plants, which is exponential increase (4th power, I believe) in delivered Lumens.
I own a CAP GEN-1 NG burner, with 4 burners.. and a CAP PPM-1 monitor/controller.
~$700.00 for the both of them... no tanks or refills needed, I added a NG line into my room. This is a good combo, but there are a few things to consider about generators:
1) gen's make heat
2) gen's make humidity
3) need AC, and dehumidification
AC should run during lights on 80-85F with CO2 ppm 1000-1800
Dehumidification should run during lights off, setpoint around 60% during veg and early bloom, and 40% for later bloom
So, now consider that probably HALF of your growroom's total power consumption is spent on climatic controllers. Accept it, and move on. Or use fresh outside night air, much cheaper, and easier.
CO2 should only be enriched during "lights on" periods, enrichment during "lights off" does not harm anything, but the plants do not use it...IE. wasted. Plant respiratory functions are shutdown for sleep.
Here's my unique example, unique to me, and maybe a few others...
I keep my CO2 PPMs at 1000 for a few reasons,
1) My room leaks bad, I mean way bad.
-The leaks are bad enough that when the burner is running full boar, I cannot enrich my room to PPMs above 1300.. what this means is that the burner is just ON 100%, which adds considerable heat and humidity to my equation, thus making it very expensive to control.
at 1000ppm I don't have to run my AC, which saves me about 1500 watts, Nor do I currently run dehumidification, saves me another 800 watts. Eventually, I will have to run Dehumidification, after week 4 of bloom... my lights off humidity is around 70%
Also, CO2 should be turned off for the last 2 weeks of bloom. I don't know why, I can't help here... but everyone says the same thing: turn that shit off, or your buds will have no flavor/smell.
In my mind, it's like this.... 90%+ of the plant growth is done, the plant is settleing down and ready to die... Autum has come, and the old lady is ready to take her final nap... not much more growth is happening, just ripening of the buds... and for this, I don't think CO2 is needed, so save some money and turn it off... (then you won't need as much AC and possibly humidity control -- additional savings).
ok, morning ramblings over... all good questions and a great thread.
+++
PS.
Unless you WANT the heat, all lights should be aircooled... period.
^^^^^
This is the single most important factor for indoor growing, way above CO2. Cool your fuckin' lights people... you will be able to bring your lights closer to the plants, which is exponential increase (4th power, I believe) in delivered Lumens.
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G
Guest
Makes absolutely no sense to me either,I'm only glad when I harvest and hang in the adjoining room it isnt any stinkier or I'd be in trouble.The vaportek struggles lol.I'm constantly moving plants in and taking them out,I only use co2 to flower with or again I'd be screwed,damn vegging plants always want to get too big before I have room in the flower room.I know co2 is best used in flower,I also know from my cap that plants make co2 at night(along with the burner)and you can exhaust it but there's no harm done.I run my AC and dehumid 24/7 andf set my cap to 1500PPM.If there wer something valid about the co2/smell taste issue it would be found on google,without question.It's not there so I dont think its real.Google has never let me down in my search for an answer,never evere evere evererererer
so how long does it take for the plans to absorb all the co2 in the air? everyone i have talked to has said it only takes about 15-20 min max. i run in a 3x5 closet and do over 100wpsf and the co2 is set @ about 1300 ppms. because i havent made another hole in my ceiling to keep the a/c hoods sealed, i leave my 4" air cooling fans going 24/7 to keep the teps in check. the co2 goes in at the bottom of the room and the 4" a/c fan is at the top in the opposite corner. when the co2 comes on I adjusted the regulator to 2 scfh the co2 levels get up to 1300 ppm's within about 3 minutes.
they cant consistently stay there as the 4" a/c fans are going all day and when the temps get above 88 the 6" exh comes on and then the room really clears up.
how do you guys run sealed rooms? isnt it not a good thing to have your plants sitting in stagnant air? and if theres no ventilation id imagine the humidity would creep up on you @ night especially if the soils wet. and how do you guys run the a/c in a sealed room? doesnt the a/c have to exhaust air somewhere? meanin that the co2 your dumping in your room is being lost slowly right?
finally someone makes a good thread regarding co2...
they cant consistently stay there as the 4" a/c fans are going all day and when the temps get above 88 the 6" exh comes on and then the room really clears up.
how do you guys run sealed rooms? isnt it not a good thing to have your plants sitting in stagnant air? and if theres no ventilation id imagine the humidity would creep up on you @ night especially if the soils wet. and how do you guys run the a/c in a sealed room? doesnt the a/c have to exhaust air somewhere? meanin that the co2 your dumping in your room is being lost slowly right?
finally someone makes a good thread regarding co2...
G
Guest
Yea your dumping co2 if you use a portable,single or dual hose makes no difference,I know too well.A window unit just recirculates and doesnt rob you of co2,and no smell eminates to the outside.Everything I've heard and read leads me to think it takes the plant some time to adjust to the higher PPM's and start using it,thats why fluctuations of more than 300PPM arent recommended.Yep thats what I do,let the plants sit there in 1500-1800PPM,no exhaust at all,window AC running day and night and dehumidifier also set at 40% RH.If you're going to gas up then exhaust and replenish,I just dont know the time parameters where it would start to do you no good if you know what I mean.
N
Neptune
No, CO2 is not "used up" in 20 minutes. It may Leak out, but your plants are noway using 2000 ppm CO2 n 20 minutes. If you think your room is 100% airtight sealed, think again.
also, back to one of the origional questions RE: venting Co2 rooms
No, there is no reason to exhaust your room when you are using co2 enrichment.
also, back to one of the origional questions RE: venting Co2 rooms
No, there is no reason to exhaust your room when you are using co2 enrichment.
Neptune said:
Just read the whole thread.... really, how many times can this be repeated....
If you can control the heat that your HID is creating... and supplement CO2, there is no need to extract any air... unless you want the stench of cannabis wild throughout...
I run a 737 can fan to cool the lights.... all totally independent of the grow environment... meaning... the air that is cooling the lights in no way ever meets the air from the grow, except outside of the cab... so now if I add CO2, what am I getting from venting, clearing out????
medicater1
New member
I had a setup with a single tank and a regulator with the Wizard to test the PPM's. I want to express my feelings of not trusting the wizard ppm testers, i dont think they are completely accurate b/c of having to squeeze the air through the glass tester for a period of over 2-3 minutes. If you squeeze too hard, bam, you have an instant reading of 1500-3000 ppms right off the bat.
Just wanted to spread the word from my experience. It can probably be vouched for to buy an atmospheric controler if it can be afforded.
Just wanted to spread the word from my experience. It can probably be vouched for to buy an atmospheric controler if it can be afforded.
Lotsa false info spreadin' round; lets cut to the chase, most folks stop using co2 in the last weeks as growth has slowed and they conserve, also they run lower temps simulating "real" Fall. Co2 is much heavier than air so danger to humans is there but minimal, so don't nap on the floor checking leaks etc, lol. Recycle it with fans have hoses connected on the rear the other end laying on the floor! Co2 doesn't add/subtract taste/flavor, it does add significant growth though. It is not necessary to ever "vent" a room, the co2 is what the plant needs and they produce oxygen only if heat or high humidity would you "need" to vent. If you are going through a 20#er a week than something is wrong. I have had rooms with 4k air-cooled/ movers and a/c (12x20) and it lasted a month and I run 1800ppm! You may check for connection leaks with soapy water. Or re-calculate your space or you have an enomungously large azzzzz room! LOL If thats the case a generator is more effective.You may also kill mites etc if you raise the ppm to 3000 for a few hours! If you do this vent out before you enter!!! If you have a closet and its in your bedroom leave a way for oxygen to get in or you can get headaches and possibly place yourself in danger!! Room air circulation is key (osillating fans)as is raising temps to the low 90'sF is no problem. Burn a few sticks of incense to check for air leaks! Don't forget to seal wall sockets etc. If I thionk of anything else I'll add it on, lates!! 
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