co2 alternative method

[Bloom SA]

Howdy cannafam

So, we all know about co2 enrichment and the various methods of applying it.
from what i have experienced, mycelium bags are a scam and yeast/sugar method doesnt seem to add much either. The only controllable and effective means are co2 controller+solinoid and co2 tank or gas burner...
Here's the issue, for a gas that Greta frikkin Thumberg doesn't want around, it is hella expensive to buy. Locally in SA, one has to rent a cyclinder from a gas company and pay to refill as well. according to my calculations, I'd need about 15kg roughly 35lbs per week. This would cost roughly $80

So...
I brainstormed myself into a migraine. The idea is to build a big compost bin outside and run a vent+fan+HEPA to the grow room, from the compost bin using my co2 controller to power the vent fan...

Does anyone have any experience doing something like this in their garden? I know i will get co2, and i am sure the HEPA should sort out most pathogens and spores, but it is the other gases that may or may not be produced which i am unsure about. Obviously manure may cause excess methane, and strictly plant based compost may not have enough oomph???

Any advice would be greatly loved

 

[RockinRobot]

How large of an area are you trying to supplement? I run a 10x8 room and a 20lb cylinder lasts me 40days at 1000ppm concentration for $30 refill. Yes you have to pay a 1 time core charge for the tank but after that you only pay for the gas and if you stop you get your core back when you take the tank back.

Larger areas a burner is your best bet and fuck Greta Thunberg.

 

[St. Phatty]

Howdy cannafam

So, we all know about co2 enrichment and the various methods of applying it.
from what i have experienced, mycelium bags are a scam and yeast/sugar method doesnt seem to add much either.

Sugar-yeast adds about as much weight of CO2 as the weight of sugar.

But since global CO2 is 414+ ppm, all you need is ventilation and you'll have extra CO2.

In 1980's grow guides, High Times etc., I remember Ed Rosenthal recommending 389 parts per million.


I suggest avoiding fire for CO2. Because I almost burned down a 12 unit condo complex once, going that route.

Yes, you may be more careful and less stoned. But still.

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I just posted this in another thread..

I feel like I'm breaking some sort of unspoken rule here..

Water-cooled lp co2 generator.

I've got a 4 burner and a co2 controller.. but I'm going with Phatty on this one.

Big tanks of hydrocarbons don't go inside of my house. I'm more concerned for my pets and my gf than I am for myself or my safety.

This 1lb tank is the only way I could rationalize it in my mind. At least if anything goes wrong, we won't all wake up in Oz.

 

[Bloom SA]

From what I gather, sugar produces by weight roughly half CO2 and half alcohol.

Liking all the innovative stuff here guys but looking in particular for CO2 by means of compost.
There is a Japanese paper I think on a study using compost bins inside greenhouses and having very good results, but there isn't much detail on the design or filtering... This is all that Google has to offer

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I forget who else here was accomplishing just that..

Some one is composting indoors in an adjacent room. I'm not sure if he got the bugs or the stink figured out, but that would obviously be something you could have to contest with as well.

I know that isn't a lot of help.. I read too many threads here and have far too poor a memory to remember exactly which one it was, or even which keywords to query..

I think he has an arduino based co2 monitor? And he's in mexico?

Combusting propane for co2 comes out pennies on the dollar compared to bottled tanks.. Cheap enough to vent, even.. fwiw. Especially if you can find a way to water cool it too.. pretty clutch.

 

[Bloom SA]

Apologies for not answering. The size of the room is 6mx4mx2m or roughly 20ftx13ftx7ft. Very well sealed. 200w of cree XPE and XPG 4000k+photo red per m2. Similar design to quantum boards but with Cree components...

I had an 25litre (8 gallon) yeast and sugar digester, processing 5kg of sugar in a small 3mx3m sealed room prior to this and it only managed 450 ppm CO2. I can imagine i would need like a 100 litre processing about 25kg of sugar for it to do anything noteworthy, but with that volume sugar starts being more expensive than bottled co2.

The cylinders are not with a deposit or core, one literally has to rent a cylinder each month it is in their possession plus pay for the refill. All the ones you can buy are tiny...

 

[f-e]

Our biggest supplier also does rental only, but look around, as there is no reason you can't get your own refilled. You just need to shop around more.

When I wanted nos for the car, They took in a cylinder I wasn't that impressed with, and let me choose a nice shiny one. Took out the dip tube, and put a fancy looking new valve on. The one I had taken in was brewery property, but as they filled for that brewery, they were quite happy for me to swap bottles for free.

 

[Asslover]

Apologies for not answering. The size of the room is 6mx4mx2m or roughly 20ftx13ftx7ft. Very well sealed. 200w of cree XPE and XPG 4000k+photo red per m2. Similar design to quantum boards but with Cree components...

I had an 25litre (8 gallon) yeast and sugar digester, processing 5kg of sugar in a small 3mx3m sealed room prior to this and it only managed 450 ppm CO2. I can imagine i would need like a 100 litre processing about 25kg of sugar for it to do anything noteworthy, but with that volume sugar starts being more expensive than bottled co2.

The cylinders are not with a deposit or core, one literally has to rent a cylinder each month it is in their possession plus pay for the refill. All the ones you can buy are tiny...

You answered your own question...

 

[Bloom SA]

How have I answered my own question? I asked if anyone had experience supplementing CO2 with compost and if it works like it does in my head and or what the drawbacks are besides pests and diseases.

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I think it’s a matter “can” and “should”.

Yeah, it’ll totally work as you are describing it, but as a business model, it sounds not so great.

Pests and disease are pretty serious drawbacks for a crop as valuable as mj. You could buy all the primo gear 10x over with a solid crop, or waste a bunch of time and effort with total crop failure.

If you take the math far enough down the line to see how many pennies you could pinch, I think you’ll see buying once and crying once is really the way to go.

I’m too poor to afford such an experiment, personally. But if you can afford to lose your crop to pest and disease at a chance to save a few bucks or collect some data you wanna spread around, more power to ya.

I salute you for you’re bravery.

But even if it did work.. 99% of the time, you’d still be better of with a tank or a burner that worked.. 100% of the time, from an investors standpoint anyways..

 

[zachrockbadenof]

how about white vinegar dripping into a pail of baking soda - the '2' items are cheap, just not sure how much co2 its adding...

 

[moses wellfleet]

What medium are you growing in? If it is organic soil I can offer some advice!

 

[Bloom SA]

Yes it's organic soil. A mix here in South Africa called freedom farms potting mix. It has Coco, perlite, bonemeal, basalt rock dust, gypsum, lime and worm castings. I feed biobizz range aswel

 

[Bloom SA]

I think it’s a matter “can” and “should”.

Yeah, it’ll totally work as you are describing it, but as a business model, it sounds not so great.

Pests and disease are pretty serious drawbacks for a crop as valuable as mj. You could buy all the primo gear 10x over with a solid crop, or waste a bunch of time and effort with total crop failure.

If you take the math far enough down the line to see how many pennies you could pinch, I think you’ll see buying once and crying once is really the way to go.

I’m too poor to afford such an experiment, personally. But if you can afford to lose your crop to pest and disease at a chance to save a few bucks or collect some data you wanna spread around, more power to ya.

I salute you for you’re bravery.

But even if it did work.. 99% of the time, you’d still be better of with a tank or a burner that worked.. 100% of the time, from an investors standpoint anyways..

Very wise sentiments indeed. I hence wanted to see if anyone has done it and how they managed to filter all the bad stuff out...

Lol if I was that brave I would've already tried it out

 

[Mikell]

I forget who else here was accomplishing just that..

Some one is composting indoors in an adjacent room. I'm not sure if he got the bugs or the stink figured out, but that would obviously be something you could have to contest with as well.

I know that isn't a lot of help.. I read too many threads here and have far too poor a memory to remember exactly which one it was, or even which keywords to query..

I think he has an arduino based co2 monitor? And he's in mexico?

Combusting propane for co2 comes out pennies on the dollar compared to bottled tanks.. Cheap enough to vent, even.. fwiw. Especially if you can find a way to water cool it too.. pretty clutch.

Didn't Lapides record 800ppm from a very active high volume organic soil bed?

 

[St. Phatty]

How have I answered my own question? I asked if anyone had experience supplementing CO2 with compost and if it works like it does in my head and or what the drawbacks are besides pests and diseases.

I've been composting outdoors since 2012 and indoors in 5 gallon buckets for a few years before that.

But I didn't try to capture the CO2 from either one.

I do notice that under the right conditions, a maple tree for example will drop 1000 pounds (wet weight) of leaves, and by the end of the summer all that biomass is gone. Those piles I keep wet to keep the bugs worms and birds happy. Until there is nothing left.

As far as where the carbon in those leaves goes - into CO2.

But what you have with a bucket of redworms eating food scraps, is just a bunch of animals exhaling CO2.

You could also use a cage full of rats, or rabbits. Any mammal or bird, they are creating CO2.

Even Cannabis Cats - and Cannabis Growers - generate CO2.

Heck if you have a lung room, you could route the air from your own bedroom to the lung room. Then route that slightly CO2 enriched air to the grow room during lights on.

 

[Bobby Boucher]

I remember something like that.. vaguely. My memory serves me so poorly. Read all the threads, didn’t take notes, hating myself for it.

I also just spent 10 minutes querying google for keywords that might lead to the compost bin filter someone was posting about recently here to no avail.

If you are already in organic soil, this sounds ideal, and frugal as all get out. All about it.

 

[moses wellfleet]

Yes it's organic soil. A mix here in South Africa called freedom farms potting mix. It has Coco, perlite, bonemeal, basalt rock dust, gypsum, lime and worm castings. I feed biobizz range aswel

In that case I’ll bet your CO2 is already close to 1000ppm. I mulch with wood chips and have worms in my containers, there is enough biological activity to provide all the CO2 plants need.

Try measure CO2 levels before you go trying all types of unusual techniques to generate CO2.

What size are your containers and how many are there?

 

[moses wellfleet]

Didn't Lapides record 800ppm from a very active high volume organic soil bed?

I only saw this after I posted. Mikell is on the money here.
I suggest you go through Lapides’ thread. It could help get you off bottled nutes as well as explain how to reuse soil. Hell it is one of the best threads on this site. I will edit a link into this post!!