CO2...A Don't or Do

[Reg Dunlop]

JBMG,

Kinda sounds like your trying to reinvent the wheel.I have to disagree with you on this c02 issue for the most part.It's a natural fact that plants use c02 for photosynthesis,which is why in most grows without c02 vent,in order to bring in cool fresh air,which has a new supply of c02,and cooler air also brings cooler temps in your grow room!The plants use the co2 and the temp of the air cools the room,right?
The exact same thing happens with co2,except you as the grower is controling the co2,the temps,ect,so inessence,with co2 you as the grower really have more control over your grow.I agree with you that it is expensive,but if you want to do anything right,it is always more expensive then doing it half ass.And as for the extra electricity,I always consider electricity the cost of growing,just like nutes.And as for security,if your room is sealed and insulated,you have a/c,dehumidifier,cooltubes ect,then there is no need for venting of any kind,thus keeping your grow inclosed in 1 room with no vents or heat sigs coming out of strange places.If the added electricity costs bother some folk,then co2 probaly isn't for them.But before you go and give ill advice such as co2 is a waste of time and money,mabey rephrase it to say,for me and my situation co2 is a waste of time and money.Because I can guarentee you that there will more then a hand full of people on here that will disagree with you on that subject.Just my 2 cents

 

[pico]

I am with Reg Dunlop on this. In fact I would go as far to say not using CO2 is a waste of time, inconvenient and potentially a risk to my current grow.

I am surrounded by concrete so I would be unable to get adequate ventilation with intake/exaust fans. Any intake/exaust I did hook up would deffinately be inconvienient and a potential risk to my grow. Risk because I would be exausting sweet smells all over the neighborhood. Plus around here it is already hard enough keeping the bugs at bay without sucking them all in to my grow.

I agree with flamengo that you need to have everything else dialed in before getting good benefits from CO2. I don't agree that it is a shortcut. CO2 will not make you a better grower. You have to be a good grower to begin with and then CO2 will become usefull. You are right that it was a waste of your time to be hauling those CO2 tanks around your apartment. I think tanks are a joke. You would need to start taking those roids just to carry those tanks back and forth from the welding supply place. For me propane burners are clearly the better option. Like you said you really need all the other controllers before CO2 makes a big difference.

Now for 9 out of the 10 people that are interested in adding CO2 to their grow I would not reccomend it. If you don't have everything else dialed in and the money to do it right there is no use doing it at all. If on the off chance you are growing to make money, and you don't have enough money to buy ALL of the equiptment I listed above, then you probably wouldn't see a benefit from CO2 anyways. My point being, if you can't grow a lot of good pot already, CO2 isn't going to help you get there. Plus 9 out of 10 people try to half ass install CO2 in there growroom and it doesn't do much at all. So I agree with JBMG that for most people CO2 is a waste of time because it is not the best way to get more yield.

Then again, if I had a lot of money I would buy all the CO2 stuff from the get go. I just like my toys.

Skeletor- Ah, that makes more sense. Just out of curiousity the next time you test, test right before the unit kicks on for another cycle, but before you exaust the room. Yeah some times of the year the burner saves me money because it would be more expensive to heat the room with an electric heater. I am running 4000 watts in a sealed room right now with CO2 and dehumidifier and because the concrete sucks the heat out of the room I don't need AC and I have no intake or exaust. Room temps stay in the mid 80s. I am going to be installing a couple more lights so an AC will be going in shortly.

 

[Guest]

Pico,I never exhaust the room and never have.This is from my green air literature that came with the unit,you want to charge up a room as quickly as possible."A CD-6 will take 10 minutes to produce a co2 level of 1000PPM in a 1000 cu ft. enclosure.The area should be charged as quickly as possible for maximum advantage.Charging the atmosphere quickly ensures that the rapid photosynthesis process will not be interrupted and the plants growth rate reduced.Five to ten minues is a good charge time,try not to exceed twenty minutes.Your microclimate will need to be recharged every one to four hours depending on how much co2 is lost due to plant leakage and leaks.We have p-retty similar grows bro I have 3 1K vertizontals with a cd-6 and dehumdifier etc,pretty fun huh?As far as the folks that think co2 is somehow a waste of time or too much trouble I say yea thats right,makes my erb look that much better not that it needs it lol.EDIT I'll tell you one thing though bro,and its because of you.I was thinking last night,I just got a killer deal on a brand new cd-6 and new cyclestat I think its time for me to get a controller.I may get it today,it's definately in my plans now.I think I'm going to stay away from the cap units,I've heard bad things about them.What unit do you use and what would you suggest?My room is 8 by 8 850 cu. ft.It'll be nice not having to order the co2 refills all the time to do tests,although they are remarkably accurate.A controller is about the only other thing my room could use that I can think of

 

[pico]

Nice, sealed rooms are the shit. You should still do a test right before the next cycle to see how much was used/lost. I have a couple more spots in my room to seal up and then I should be pretty tight.

I agree you want to bring the ppms up as quick as possible. But then on the flip side keeping those ppms up and not fluctuating throughout the day is more effective. That is why they talk about "charging the atmosphere quickly", so that the levels are always high, not just high after that initial burn. This is why I was talking about having shorter cycles more often. Too bad with a regular timer you couldn't burn for the 8.5 minutes at the beggining of the day and then burn for 3 minutes every 15 to keep levels more stabilized. Then again, with the green air burners there is a pilot light that burns all night and CO2 levels are high in the morning. They would probably be high enough that starting with 3 minutes every 15 minutes would probably work great.

CAP ppm-3 is only $350.
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/ppm3-monitor-controller-120v-p-373.html

 

[Guest]

Is that what you use pico?I've read those cap units break and dont last long,I really dont know what to get.I'm going to get something though,thats for sure.I know what you mean about charging more often with less burn time to keep it more "even",but according to them thats really not how it works.They suggest a burn time between 5 and 10 minutes and to charge the room as quick as possible which is how I've been doing it.I'm going to look at controllers today,maybe I'll get one.

 

[mrwags]

I've done runs in my room with and without c02 and must say the difference is stupid crazy. I no longer post total overall yields #'s now because of it and I'm simply flooding every 4 hours so I'm in a sense half-ass using it. The non-propane tanks are a pita there are few places to get them filled and after a while you can only play off being an alcoholic so long but the propane tanks on the other hand are goober simple and can be done damn near anywhere and it's much easier to be the grill king. Ventilation with c02? What ventilation. My room is sealed no air in or out unless it's going through the tubes to the lamps and out of the room.

C02 works as a matter of fact it freakin rocks. I've used it in BOB and have also in my room and for those that don't understand what it does have NEVER SEEN WHAT IT DOES.


My 1 Cent
Mr.Wags

 

[pico]

Yeah I use the ppm-3 and have used it for almost 2 years now. It has always worked great for me.

 

[Guest]

OK thanks pico I'm sure they have a warranty I'll be getting something for sure.EDIT Do you still need a cycle stat with the cap controller?

 

[pico]

No you do not need a cyclestat.

 

[Guest]

Thanks yea I just found that out,495.00 for the cap but green air shit is even more expensive.So I have to put it on a timer big deal,green air has a photovoltaic cell.I'll be getting it satuday,thanks pico for sort of pushing me in that direction,no reason not to get one now that I have a new cd-6.The piece of shit cyclestat with no reset or diodes goes back.Green air is charging more and their new stuff is inferior at least the new cyclestat