C02 doing more harm than good

[Cereall]

Hello all

my grow consists of 2 600w HPS on 12/12 from seed
fans to vent grow room temps in dark 67* and about 83-85* lights on

well, i started using C02... no professional kit or anything like that... just a hose hooked to my tank, then filling my box by turning c02 on for 15 seconds

i THOUGHT, it would help just by adding into atmosphere of plants

I added in dark time, about 3 hours before the lights came on and the fans which totally circulate the air

i thought it would be good for them to have but my plants totally stretched pretty bad but others are doing great so i am confused

STRETCHED

Another stretched one

the last 3 plants are about 3 weeks older than the others that are stretched

so is it best to use c02 only during light hours? or only during flowering and not so much veg?

i am just really wondering why the huge stretch between nodes... they were much tighter through the earlier stages and it recently happened

the stem is huge and thick, just looking for advice
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

 

[Jack in the Bud]

Cereall,

There's a lot of controversy and different opinions on the forums about using CO2. I've been using it on several grows and think for the most part it's benefical. I'm dam sure it isn't hurting any thing. I start giving it 3 weeks into veg and continue right up to harvest.

I don't have one of these fancy high tech CO2 set ups either. I've got mine coming out of the tank thru a flow meter to a 110 V operated solenoid valve that I salvaged out of an old welding machine. I've got this plugged into a cheap timer that I've got set to come on for 15 minutes every 2 hours when the lights are on. Got a piece of aquarium tubing going from the out let side of the solenoid valve to the back side grill work of a small fan. This blows it around the space. I'm guessing I'm adding around 1 cubic of CO2 to the space every 2 hours.

I think for best results you've got to rig something up so you get a little burst of CO2 added to the space on a regular, consistent basis (even when you're not around). And it only helps during lights on. Adding it during the dark period is only wasting CO2. Also if you're constantly running a vent fan you're just sucking the CO2 right out of the space and it's not doing you any good. I've got my vent fan set up on another similar timer and have it set to come on several times a day to deal with the excessive heat and humidity that builds up in the space. It's co-ordinated with the CO2 timer so that it shuts off right before the space gets it's 15 minute shot of CO2. Basically the plants sit in a CO2 enriched enviroment for an hour and 45 minutes before the vent fan scavenges the room for 15 minutes and when it shuts off the room gets a fresh squirt of CO2 so the plants can sit for another hour and 45 minutes before the vent fan comes on again. I'm on 12/12 light right now so this cycle gets repeated 5 times a day regardless of whether I'm around or not.

Jack

PS: They might be a little leggy but over all those aren't bad look'n girls.

 

[SIV3L]

CO2 actually helps my plants even in small doses. Leaves turn darker green and flowering loves it. I don't have anything special just a yeast and sugar water setup from a gatorade bottle.

 

[MoN3yb4Gs]

Co2 with lights on

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

That 2nd one looks bad. The other ones will come out nice.

 

[johndoecangrow]

I was told to only use co2 when the lights are on. I guess the plants don't uptake co2 when the lights are off. my guess is the co2 worked but your lights might have been too far away making the stem stretch on you. I would try feeding co2 multiple times a day preferably when your fans aren't running so it doesn't get expelled out. but I wouldn't waste it by using it with the lights out if it isn't going to be used by your plants. maybe put your fans on a timer so you can run interval of co2 then fan. good luck bro

 

[SIV3L]

Co2 wont harm your plants at night, but it is more effective during day hours. Fans should be OFF when saturating with Co2 as the fans will blow it all away if not properly ventilated.

 

[echo tribe]

the plant exhale at night so the co2 is a waste in the dark, 12/12 from seed you say, not something I would ever do.... not to be mean at all but I feel you should know by now with plants that big when to give co2, also 85 seems high to me and maybe thats why they are stretching... also are you checking the co2 ppm? I would never just spray a bunch of c02 and hope for the best, should be 2000, not sure what to much would do.... good luck

 

[JoeCa1i]

Yeh what SIV said,could be the strain,or maybe keep temps at no more than 78F.

 

[smitty420420]

looks like some may fill inn and b some fat ass nugs

 

[Cereall]

I was told to only use co2 when the lights are on. I guess the plants don't uptake co2 when the lights are off. my guess is the co2 worked but your lights might have been too far away making the stem stretch on you. I would try feeding co2 multiple times a day preferably when your fans aren't running so it doesn't get expelled out. but I wouldn't waste it by using it with the lights out if it isn't going to be used by your plants. maybe put your fans on a timer so you can run interval of co2 then fan. good luck bro

lights have always been close, that isnt reason as other plants are not stretched and just as far away, just the c02 stretched the hell out of the couple younger plants

the plant exhale at night so the co2 is a waste in the dark, 12/12 from seed you say, not something I would ever do.... not to be mean at all but I feel you should know by now with plants that big when to give co2, also 85 seems high to me and maybe thats why they are stretching... also are you checking the co2 ppm? I would never just spray a bunch of c02 and hope for the best, should be 2000, not sure what to much would do.... good luck

yeah 12/12 has a lot of diff opinions but i am given a limited space for this grow but next will be mothers and clones set up... i have recently invested a lot of money and c02 was to be my next investment, so i was trying doses to get a peek at results to expect but need a few more pieces of equipment so i can get a proper setup

Yeh what SIV said,could be the strain,or maybe keep temps at no more than 78F.

all same strain is pictured

yeah i am having a hard time venting out my current sealed box
2 600w HPS with ducting in between and 2 duct boosting fans on each end
2 duct boosting fans (240 CFM) 1 inlet, 1 outlet to circulate entire box
(7' wide 4' deep 6' tall)

so i need to figure out some better ventilation or just stronger fans idk

but thanks for replies guys, i will lay off the c02 until i get everything else sorted then

 

[Jack in the Bud]

lights have always been close, that isnt reason as other plants are not stretched and just as far away, just the c02 stretched the hell out of the couple younger plants


yeah 12/12 has a lot of diff opinions but i am given a limited space for this grow but next will be mothers and clones set up... i have recently invested a lot of money and c02 was to be my next investment, so i was trying doses to get a peek at results to expect but need a few more pieces of equipment so i can get a proper setup


all same strain is pictured

yeah i am having a hard time venting out my current sealed box
2 600w HPS with ducting in between and 2 duct boosting fans on each end
2 duct boosting fans (240 CFM) 1 inlet, 1 outlet to circulate entire box
(7' wide 4' deep 6' tall)

so i need to figure out some better ventilation or just stronger fans idk

but thanks for replies guys, i will lay off the c02 until i get everything else sorted then

Cereall,

I don't think the amount of CO2 you gave those plants really had any affect on them and is what's responsible for the stretching some of them did. There's to many other factors involved and those ones that stretched were gonna do so wether or not they had any extra CO2.

I too have a crop going all from the same strain of seed and I have quite a bit of difference in the size and architecture between some of the plants. It's just the nature of the beast when growing from seed.

I've got one plant that looks almost exactly like the one you're most worried about. I decided to try a "supercropping" experiment (based on a tutorial here in the forums) on it in hopes of keeping it's final height down. But even if it doesn't end up being the biggest producer of the lot I know it's still going to yield some good bud.

I think what you got going on looks good (especially if you're fairly new to growing). Unless you over obsess about these plants to the point where you end up doing something drastically wrong (like over nute them) I think you're gonna end up with something to be proud of.

 

[Cereall]

thank you for reply

its just odd because i have 2 diff strains in my box, 6 of each strain

and only a couple of each strain are stretched, and they are the younger plants and didnt stretch until they received c02 which is why i thought it would correlated to the use of it.

i only showed pictures of the one strain to avoid confusion...

but like you said, might just be a diff phenotype of the strain as i have a few different looking plants

im going to lay off the c02 for a few more weeks until they are mid-way of flowering

thanks for all the advice and yeah im a relatively new grower... finally legal to grow in MI

 

[pinger420]

I also witnessed these plants from seed and there were absolutely NO stretching until the Co2 was introduced. In a matter of 4 or 5 days after the last co2 shot, the plants stretched between nodes in some spots LITERALLY 8 to 10 inches. The total growth of some of them were over a foot and it was all stem growth. They werent too far from the light and stretched, so if you think that you are an idiot. There was hardly any side growth b4, after co2 side growth grew out 1 foot stems with one top at the end. In my opinion this happened because the co2 was introduced in the dark. And there is nothing wrong with 12/12 from seed to the other moron that knocked it.

 

[Jack in the Bud]

I also witnessed these plants from seed and there were absolutely NO stretching until the Co2 was introduced. In a matter of 4 or 5 days after the last co2 shot, the plants stretched between nodes in some spots LITERALLY 8 to 10 inches. The total growth of some of them were over a foot and it was all stem growth. They werent too far from the light and stretched, so if you think that you are an idiot. There was hardly any side growth b4, after co2 side growth grew out 1 foot stems with one top at the end. In my opinion this happened because the co2 was introduced in the dark. And there is nothing wrong with 12/12 from seed to the other moron that knocked it.

pinger,

Good plan man. You start out trying to join in an online discussion forum and with your very first post you're already calling other people idiots and morons.

This is just a suggestion now mind you, but you might want to consider growing some manners before you get in to much of a rush to share your opinions with the rest of us on how to go about growing weed.

Jack