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The how to and why fors of CO2 supplementation for growers

bs0

bs0

Active member
So my room is finally stable and my co2 gen is in action at long last. My last co2 try got some high temps and excess stretch due to that fact, but now I have a cute little 14k btu a/c that took care of that!

My ambient co2 used to be about 350ppm and now it's a tidy consistent 1100ppm and rock solid 78 degrees. With my aero/nft setup what kind of gains might I see? Previous harvests have varied drastically from 7 to 18 zips, but for a general thought or guesstimate what kinda percentage will I see? I've read claims as ridiculous as 30% yield and 30% faster flowering, but that seems completely overblown... Other posts in this thread indicated that they only saw changes during the stretch.

I've already got the damn thing, so I'm not tryin to get someone to sell me on it, i'm just really curious. I haven't seen a huge difference yet (in only a week) but I figure thats because I check every damned 8 hours or so.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
So look for flowering to be about 5% faster (a few days usually) and yield increases of 20% are the most common. Some get less, some get more, but 20 is average. I would recommend augmenting the blue light to combat stretch, I'm switching half my flower room back to MH after seeing the leggy-ass plants HPS alone grows.
 
AOD2012

AOD2012

I have the key, now i need to find the lock..
Veteran
hey lazy, stopping by to ask another question. i definitely have a leak in the room somewhere, im just going to wait until this run is over to rectify the situation. i just wanted to know if there was any way to modify the c02 regulator two run two tanks. i have the CAP reg-1, and i noticed how they have a reg-2 that you can attach two tanks to. is it possible to modify the one tank one to run two tanks? or is that something i shouldnt mess around with? thanks for any input
 
Cannalicious

Cannalicious

Member
Lazyman said:
Hmm interesting. CO2 depends a bit on how it was dispersed. Hot CO2 from a gas-fired generator will cdertainly rise, but cold CO2 dumped from a tank will sink. Fans keep the whole thing mixed up though, or at least they should!

I had an unfinished ceiling in my basement as well, I covered the whole thing with sheets of Tekfoil insulation from Farmtek.com. Staples up easy and is flexible, tape the seams and joints with foil tape and you can make a pretty airtight pouch. It even comes with mylar on one side and white poly plastic on the other,m with two layers of bubble wrap inbetween. If that's not feasible I would at least see if you can borrow a CO2 setup from a friend for a day and run it, and see how fast it depletes or leaks. I tried it on my old grow and it leaked out faster than I could generate it! Good luck!
Click to expand...

OK, that tekfoil looks awesome! However, that being said, I'm still late on rent, blah blah blah, eh, broke.

I was thinking of springing for one of those plunger CO2 tests though to see if the CO2 stays in the room without sealing it all up. I don't know if they are accurate. I had one once, read the CO2 level (in a different room/set up), and it said 1800 ppm after two minutes. At 2.5 mins it was at like 2100. 5 hours later it was over 3500 - I assume that's because the atmospheric CO2 keeps seeping in.

Do you think these tests are worth the money? They aren't cheap.

Thanks for your help so far.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
Yeah I hear you, right before harvest I'm usually comin up a lil short myself bro, happens to most of us.

Yeah the Co2 test tubes (can't remember what they're called today) work pretty well, but since atmospheric CO2 is usually around 300-350ppm, there's no way that alone was driving it up. If you had a tank of co2 you could open the valve slightly for a couple minutes and take a reading, then wait 20 minutes and use a new tube for a second test to see the difference. The tubes can only be used once and they're garbage.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
AOD2012 said:
hey lazy, stopping by to ask another question. i definitely have a leak in the room somewhere, im just going to wait until this run is over to rectify the situation. i just wanted to know if there was any way to modify the c02 regulator two run two tanks. i have the CAP reg-1, and i noticed how they have a reg-2 that you can attach two tanks to. is it possible to modify the one tank one to run two tanks? or is that something i shouldnt mess around with? thanks for any input
Click to expand...

Yep, google CO2 dual-tank adapter or splitter, they make a y-hose that connects two tanks to one fitting. Doubles the time between tank changes!
 
S

sparkjumper

RAE systems co2 kits are definately worth the money if you want to see it for yourself.They are totally accurate,spend an entire two minutes pushing the plunger.I ususally rest the plunger on my knee and just give a slight downward push.They are accurate as fuck used correctly
 
bs0

bs0

Active member
Lazyman said:
So look for flowering to be about 5% faster (a few days usually) and yield increases of 20% are the most common. Some get less, some get more, but 20 is average. I would recommend augmenting the blue light to combat stretch, I'm switching half my flower room back to MH after seeing the leggy-ass plants HPS alone grows.
Click to expand...

Badass, I hope that I see that 20%. I got sick of leggy ladies too, I have a 1k mh flanked by 2 600 hps... Not sure if it makes a difference or not yet but I can hope!

Ty for info :thank you:
 
D

Danks2005

Active member
Nice thread you got here Lazyman. I will be making the jump within the next month. I think I am set on the Sentinel CHHC-1, with 2x 20lb tanks, or one 50lb tank. This weekend I will be insulating my walls, sheetrock (or plywood), then caulk all joints and corners with black roof flashing. My door swings out from the grow space, so I am going to build a 2x4 fram around the perimeter of the door inside the space, and line with thick weather stripping tape. So when I close the door it will seal tight to the inside frame(kind of an extra doorjamb with foam tape.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
Sounds good Danks, airtight is ideal, just make sure you can keep the "lights on temps" to 85*F or the Co2 is a waste. The Sentinel CHHC-4 is the replacement for the CHHC1, check Ebay for the lowest prices. Good luck!
 
Z

ZENARCADE

Lazyman said:
Sounds good Danks, airtight is ideal, just make sure you can keep the "lights on temps" to 85*F or the Co2 is a waste. The Sentinel CHHC-4 is the replacement for the CHHC1, check Ebay for the lowest prices. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Hey Lazyman, great thread. I've been growing for a while but I'm new to CO2.
My question is about the 85*F. I get the science behind what your saying, but how much of a waste would it be if I ran temps in the 77-79 range? Would CO2 still be worth it? The reason I try to keep them this way is because I like to grow only a few BIG single hydro plants each with there own reservoir. This kind of makes a chiller out of the question as the res' aren't plumbed together(dif strains, dif stages of flower, etc.)
When I run a canopy temp in the mid to high 70's My water temps on the cold floor are in the low-mid 60's. Any thoughts?
P.S.
Switched to Quantums per your advice.......I love 'em!
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
Hey Zen,I don't haver the chart handy, but I saw a graph that plotted effectiveness of CO2 against temps. It fell off pretty fast below 85*F, so any drop and you will lose at least a percentage of the benefits. Look at the bright side, with the increased yield maybe you can afford a chiller earlier than you hoped! Good luck bro, keep us posted on the results!
 
Z

ZENARCADE

Thanks Lazyman! My a/c will run less at 85 so I guess there's room for a chiller in electrical scheme of things!
 
Z

ZENARCADE

Another question for Lazyman....I saw you were running some plants in FFOF, What differences do you notice with the organic plants when CO2 is added as far as nute consumption and growth. I know with hydro they can take a higher ppm because of the rapid growth, etc. If I'm running 100% organic soil am I gonna end up having to scratch in my amendments more often, or a hotter mix, bigger containers, etc? At any given time I'll switch back and forth from top feed hydroton, drain to waste coco, or organic soil.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
hmm, co2 will increase nute uptake and metabolism, but it's difficult to say by how much. Since the built-in nutes last about 3-4 weeks on average, you will need to feed them somehow, whichever you're best equipped to do. Container size is really dependent on how big the plant is and how long it's been in it. I use smartpots to avoid the whole "rootbinding" thing, and transplant clones into 2g smartots for veg for 1 month. At the flip they go into 5g smartpots amended with extra ewc and GH Ancient forest (a humus product.) In veg I feed a weak ACT that works very well, and in flower, well it's complicated, lol.
 
Z

ZENARCADE

^^^ I hear ya! I like the maintenance free -just add water- for most of the grow organics, I'd like to get some huge pots and grow some trees this way in a sealed CO2 room! Thanks for the help, lots of great info here!
 
N

noreason

Natural born Grower
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I finally read the whole thread.Very useful for a co2 noob as me.
Thanks goes to lazyman and secondtry first,and all the other co2 folks,you did a great work :)

I'm going to buy a 10pounds tank,and an analyzer,but not a controller,too much bucks for me now.I should setup the system with a timer and give it a try.

Very interesting the relationship between RH and co2 (vpd).Next run I'll give it a try raising the RH in flowering around 60%

Thanks again ICMaggers :)
 
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