foray into co2?

I'v never ran co2. I've been growing for maybe 6 months now, and 4 months ago I shifted my interest indoors. I've got advanced p300 and an HLG 550. I'm thinking about selling p300 and investing in a small co2 setup, although I'm completely lost. I'm in a tent, but the tent (4x4X7) is inside a very small room, maybe 8X8X9. I'll have to keep my lights in the tent (room isn't set up for grow) but I could easily seal room off.

I'm willing to spend a couple hundred dollars more if it means I can get something worthwhile. Those co2 generator cans are junk. I'm not waisting my time with that.

is there a kit for beginners? lol hELp

its the c02 regulator that costs a bomb too

c02 allows the grower to grow plants

in temps above 77f/25c in comfort thats all

normally when temps exceed or drop below 77f/25c

the plants go dormant

c02 prevents that

if you got the money for the gas an extra lighting

go for it

but as a commercial method to increase yields

its a failure

most even the best ....re consider

good luck

vostok said:

its the c02 regulator that costs a bomb too

c02 allows the grower to grow plants

in temps above 77f/25c in comfort thats all

normally when temps exceed or drop below 77f/25c

the plants go dormant

c02 prevents that

if you got the money for the gas an extra lighting

go for it

but as a commercial method to increase yields

its a failure

most even the best ....re consider

good luck

Click to expand...

\

so youre saying commercial growers dont use co2? can you elaborate on that? thanks

back east and in Holland the only growers that use c02,

that I know of are the strawberry and tulip growers

they are on a tight grow schedule

the c02 used was burnt natural gas, these are big green houses

and the gas is a by product of heating

I'm not aware of c02 use in the us, but know its expensive

if the grower can get his return back over the cost of the gas

...leap for it

The expense of running co2 in a small environment wont really be worth the benefit...i suspect.

Say you harvest a pound a pound usually in ypur 4x4 and co2 gets you a 25% increase if your conditions are exactly right. So you get 1.25 lbs at the cost of what? A co2 tank, regulator, co2 gas and extra lighting/heat in a perfectly sealed room, which will cost more to regulate. So that extra 4 ounces just cost you double what the usual pound cost you.

Is it worth it?

Ive thought long and hard about doing it for my 5x9 space and decided that the extra money and the extra fn around to provide and consistently maintain the right environment isnt worth it. I would think a 10x10 space would be the minimum for a good cost/benefit trade.

Also, if youve only been growing for a few months then you have plenty of things to master before even considering how to properly and efficiently apply co2.

I completly dsagree as a grower who runs co2 i can honestly say my results were far superior then when i didnt. i use a 20lb co2 tank and run my tubes almost as if it were raining down,on my plants co2 is heavier then air so jt will stay on bottom biggest problem is sealing ur tent and having no fans pushing and pulling air inside youre room so no exhausting heat 90% of all commercial growers use co2 in there rooms. But hey just me speaking from experience cost me 18$ to fill,my tank i go through 2 maybe 3 tanks per grow i got a tank from coca cola bottling 25$ for deposit got my co2 regulater on craigslist for 20$ biggest expense is getting a monitor so it shuts down at desired ppm i just bught a desk top for 100$ and dialed down my co2 i keep it at 800 ppm and keep my room temps at 83 and humidity at 45%

Oregonhwy101 said:

I completly dsagree as a grower who runs co2 i can honestly say my results were far superior then when i didnt. i use a 20lb co2 tank and run my tubes almost as if it were raining down,on my plants co2 is heavier then air so jt will stay on bottom biggest problem is sealing ur tent and having no fans pushing and pulling air inside youre room so no exhausting heat 90% of all commercial growers use co2 in there rooms. But hey just me speaking from experience cost me 18$ to fill,my tank i go through 2 maybe 3 tanks per grow i got a tank from coca cola bottling 25$ for deposit got my co2 regulater on craigslist for 20$ biggest expense is getting a monitor so it shuts down at desired ppm i just bught a desk top for 100$ and dialed down my co2 i keep it at 800 ppm and keep my room temps at 83 and humidity at 45%

Click to expand...

How long were you growing before you started using co2? I bet you already new what you were doing before you started with co2?

Also...how big is your space?

5x4. Is the size of my space i run 2 600w hps air cooled hoods. a/c cooled and dehumidifier. I dont just run a sealed room for the benefit of co2 injection keeps pest at bay and easier to control temps and smell. With ac i can have it 88° or 60° with the dehumidifier i can control my humidity levels. Add the co2 and i have a perfect envoirment with no fluctuations.

http://www.growweedeasy.com/co2
Read this over its a great read.

Oregonhwy101 said:

5x4. Is the size of my space i run 2 600w hps air cooled hoods. a/c cooled and dehumidifier. I dont just run a sealed room for the benefit of co2 injection keeps pest at bay and easier to control temps and smell. With ac i can have it 88° or 60° with the dehumidifier i can control my humidity levels. Add the co2 and i have a perfect envoirment with no fluctuations.

Click to expand...

Dont your air cooled hoods suck out the co2?

I use air cooled hoods too. They draw cool air from outside the tent through the lights and exhaust outside. But even That created a neg pressure in my tent that was quite bad so i had to tape up the hoods to seal the leaks ( which sucks when I have to change bulbs...lol). They arent a 100%. The ducting hose leaks too....

Pulls air from outside my grow box through the hoods into attic. Turn all fans off except ducting fan and use a lighter or incence to find air leakes if you buy better ducting not the foil crap its way better try something pvc coated (not sure what u use) i also use a lighter or incence to check the door for air leak if i have neg or pos pressuresmoke wil either be sucked in or blown out. Are you puling hot air out of ur tent from any were ? Lol i agree about the changing bulbs. I use a 3x3 tent with a t5 for veg so i dont change my bulbs anymore lol

I also have had great sucess with adding co2 to my 8x4 tent.in my opinion it was well worth the investment. You really can start of simple by just putting the requlator on a timer and you exhust on another one. When my fan is scheduled to shut off my reg kicks on and when the fan turns back on regulator shuts off. There are detailed instructions that go through how to figure out what to set reg based off how long it takes to get to deaired ppm in a set time.

Oregonhwy101 said:

Pulls air from outside my grow box through the hoods into attic. Turn all fans off except ducting fan and use a lighter or incence to find air leakes if you buy better ducting not the foil crap its way better try something pvc coated (not sure what u use) i also use a lighter or incence to check the door for air leak if i have neg or pos pressuresmoke wil either be sucked in or blown out. Are you puling hot air out of ur tent from any were ? Lol i agree about the changing bulbs. I use a 3x3 tent with a t5 for veg so i dont change my bulbs anymore lol

Click to expand...

I use a window a/c to cool my tent, but i also have a fresh air intake and exhaust set up on a timer...

Hmmm...ypure having me rethink the co2 thing with the ideas you have suggested...

can anyone who's running co2 give me a rundown of the equipment necessary? I'm thinking tank, regulator, ppm meter, and natural gas detector (because when doesnt burn properly, produces carbon monoxide, right?). Am I missing anything? could I do this for around $350 or less? I cant afford another light right now, but I've got HLG 550 in a 4x4. Instead of co2, I could get another light. hard decisions.

Oregonhwy101 said:

I completly dsagree as a grower who runs co2 i can honestly say my results were far superior then when i didnt. i use a 20lb co2 tank and run my tubes almost as if it were raining down,on my plants co2 is heavier then air so jt will stay on bottom biggest problem is sealing ur tent and having no fans pushing and pulling air inside youre room so no exhausting heat 90% of all commercial growers use co2 in there rooms. But hey just me speaking from experience cost me 18$ to fill,my tank i go through 2 maybe 3 tanks per grow i got a tank from coca cola bottling 25$ for deposit got my co2 regulater on craigslist for 20$ biggest expense is getting a monitor so it shuts down at desired ppm i just bught a desk top for 100$ and dialed down my co2 i keep it at 800 ppm and keep my room temps at 83 and humidity at 45%

Click to expand...

This^^^. The rest of you dont know what your talking about...never used it..or are not using it correctly. Good lord!!!

Gquebed said:

Dont your air cooled hoods suck out the co2?

I use air cooled hoods too. They draw cool air from outside the tent through the lights and exhaust outside. But even That created a neg pressure in my tent that was quite bad so i had to tape up the hoods to seal the leaks ( which sucks when I have to change bulbs...lol). They arent a 100%. The ducting hose leaks too....

Click to expand...

Most serious growers that run a sealed room with co2 have big mini split ac's and commercial dehueys for room climate control. And DO NOT run air cooled hoods. With air passing through the hoods..no matter the amount of tape and the ducting (short of real hard metal ducting) you will be sucking out some gas. But its minimal if you know what your doing. Real reason sealed room growers dont bother with air cooled hoods is they lose lumens/PAR that doesn't reach the plants that your still paying for. Glass and cool air eat lumens. Especially dirty glass. And all glass gets a little dusty because of the nature of air cooled hoods/fans /& ducting no matter what. Plus running a bunch of air cooled hoods and ducting is generally a pain in thee ass. Cool the room..not the lamps.

I use 4x a.c. hoods in a sealed co2 room with absolutely zero air leaks thru my hoods. Hoods are extra sealed with foam tape, and my duct is all saran wrapped and taped. Just because a few don' know how to seal a room properly, don' put us all in that category.

DemonTrich said:

I use 4x a.c. hoods in a sealed co2 room with absolutely zero air leaks thru my hoods. Hoods are extra sealed with foam tape, and my duct is all saran wrapped and taped. Just because a few don' know how to seal a room properly, don' put us all in that category.

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so, presuming you were a noob once and didnt use co2: substantial difference? worth spending $4/500/whatever to begin? I'm using HLG 550 LED, so heat isn't that big of a deal inside my tent, especially in winter. I was thinking of sealing off the room my tent is in and maybe just using inline fan, which currently exhausts to basement, to circulate co2 throughout room/tent.

** i understand co2 is commonly used to afford a higher temperature. I understand tents are not airtight. I understand it's cost intensive to begin. *I understand throwaway canisters are shit. But I've also read that a blue-heavy light like 550 allows stomata to absorb more co2 and that can relate to around 35% higher yield.


What I haven't really gotten a straight answer on is cost : benefit.

Costdepends on how much ur willing to spend do you want to go with a co2 generator burning propane or do you want to go with a tank ? For tank you need
Co2 regulater 35-70$
Tank some olacesallow u to have deposit on tank or you have to buy on 100$ cost me 25 for deposit on my tank i exchange my empty one for full for 18$ you may also want monitor so once u hit desired ppm it shuts tank or generator down thise are pricy 200-300 i bout a desk top monitor that just displays my ppm i adjusted from there i use my regulator on a timer its on for about 20 min an hour.
It has an alarm light that turns on once ppm drops im thinking about sodering wire to this light so it kicks my tank on thus making my own monitor at afraction of cost

Oregonhwy101 said:

Costdepends on how much ur willing to spend do you want to go with a co2 generator burning propane or do you want to go with a tank ? For tank you need
Co2 regulater 35-70$
Tank some olacesallow u to have deposit on tank or you have to buy on 100$ cost me 25 for deposit on my tank i exchange my empty one for full for 18$ you may also want monitor so once u hit desired ppm it shuts tank or generator down thise are pricy 200-300 i bout a desk top monitor that just displays my ppm i adjusted from there i use my regulator on a timer its on for about 20 min an hour.
It has an alarm light that turns on once ppm drops im thinking about sodering wire to this light so it kicks my tank on thus making my own monitor at afraction of cost

Click to expand...

i appreciate it, man. I'm thinking tank to begin and work my way up to propane generator, especially since my tent is only 4x4. I've got about $300 to devote toward this, so I think I'll do tank, monitor, and some sort off supplemental DIY LED kit. thanks!