Oxygen direct injection?

[maxsat]

I've was checking out my mates's recirculating system, which uses clyballs in orchid/net pots sitting in tubs, which in turn drain back to his tank. He was talking about the airstones he's put in these tubs and how they're supposed to help more oxygen get to the roots, when it struck me : why not pump oxygen directly into the tubs? Oxygen is heavier than air (specific gravity of 1.15 or thereabouts IIRC), which means the you could work out the volume of the tubs and inject a measured dose of pure oxygen into them at fixed intervals, which would displace the air iand increase the oxygen available to the roots by a factor of 4 or so.

 

Have I discovered the secret to a massive yield increase or have I spent too much time testing his product?

Any ideas from the plant gurus?

[Cypress]

I spose it'd depend on how much pure O2 goes for ($), and what sort of quantities you can get it in? Maybe.

[wassily]

I would suggest that what he's talking about is oxygenating the water/nutrient mix so that more oxygen is delivered to the root zone in combination with the mix, not by itself. Maybe you could pump extra in in between waterings, but I don't know if this would

a) be much more effective on growth

be very cost effective

c) not blow up in a big ball of fire (isn't o2 very flammable?)

I a theory more related to fish keeping, while the bubblers put air through the water, they also break the surface of the water. Without it being broken, I would think that the surface tension of the water (meniscus)

would prevent the o2 from entering the water, and only be available to a limited number of roots in the space.

Having, said that, if you guys try it and don't blow up, let me know how it turns out.

Wear a helmet

Vazular

[maxsat]

I would suggest that what he's talking about is oxygenating the water/nutrient mix so that more oxygen is delivered to the root zone in combination with the mix, not by itself.

 

No, what I meant was actually injecting oxygen into the tubs. After all, the roots are hanging in the space between the net pots and the inch or so of nutrient in the bottom of the tubs, surely having this space filled with four times the normal level of oxygen would help promote growth?

 

 

Maybe you could pump extra in in between waterings, but I don't know if this would

a) be much more effective on growth

 

well, that was my question, it seems no-one's prepared to make an iformed guess either :-)

 

be very cost effective

 

Oxygen's not that expensive, but what I was really trying to ask was ''will it actually increase growth?"

 

c) not blow up in a big ball of fire (isn't o2 very flammable?)

 

O2 is flammable, but I don't see what would ignite it.

 

I a theory more related to fish keeping, while the bubblers put air through the water, they also break the surface of the water. Without it being broken, I would think that the surface tension of the water (meniscus)

would prevent the o2 from entering the water, and only be available to a limited number of roots in the space.

 

I dunno, I would have thought that the exposed roots would be absorbing oxygen directly without having to depend entirely on sourcing all its o2 via dissolved oxygen in the nutient.

 

Oh, and surely the constant dribbling of nutrient from the roots and the airstone bubling away madly in only an inch of the nutrient at the bottom would have taken care of the surface tension thing pretty well anyway, so you'd have oxygen and oxygen-saturated nutrient both on the attack in there.

Edited February 1, 2003 by maxsat

[Tom]

Good ventilation and an air stone in the reservoir should provide all the oxygen the roots require. Oxygen is a dangerous gas to deal with in a confined space, it does not burn itself but it does promote fire, if you were to walk into a high oxygen atmosphere with a cigarette in your mouth it would instantly explode into flame and you would probably lose half your face. One spark in your grow room could turn it into an instant inferno an timers spark every time they turn on or off.

 

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[Buddy]

Pure oxygen or thereabouts is poisonous to plants so if increased four times to 84% + whatever the plant manufactures,it might spell disaster for your grow.

 

A good thought though, and one that I pondered myself when I started growing but wasnt prepared to experiment with and being heavier than air I think it would acumulate and build up in the grow tank.

 

There are airstones that are superfine and turn the nutrients cloudy with microscopic air bubbles....this might be a better way to deliver more o2 than the plant needs.

[pipeman]

O2 is flammable, but I don't see what would ignite it.

a cracked light bulb, a cigarette, a spark from a fan motor or plug in chord would all do the trick

 

all I'm saying is if you want to be injecting pure oxygen into your growroom you better make sure its explosion proof

[boe~pimp]

commercial grade "pure" oxygen is 99% oxygen, it deffinately won't benifit you, and would do about the same for your plants i would imagine.

oxygen is heavier than 'air', but will dicipate into the atmosphere in about three quarters of a second. the only way to get the room to stay oxygen rich would be to completely purge the room and fiill it with oxygen and your just begging for problems doing things like that, not to mention kill your plants.

as tom said before, the oxygen in the atmosphere with good ventilation and an airstone in your resevoire will be plenty.

it's a proven thing & i've got a philosophy about such things: if it ain't broke dont fuck around with it. i learnt the hard way.

[Tom]

if it ain't broke dont fuck around with it. i learnt the hard way.

A very educational sort of learning that is, can be quite effective too.

 

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