C02 Soda Stream

[The Devil]

I have been trying to research just how much Carbon Dioxide i need to administer to a grow closet. I currently use a Soda Stream C02 system that i hook up to a plastic tub to euthanise all the snakefood quickly & humanely. As i can buy all the gas cartridges from Wooolies & they work out very cheap, I was thinking of using this same setup to enrich the air in the closet.

 

Does anyone use this type of setup? Or could you point me in the right direction of tables that i can follow..

 

Many thanks!

[thc24]

i would use Co2 with a sniffer but without a way of measuring the amount of co2 in the room its going to be very much hit and miss affair.

 

Id out preform many local growers in quality without co2, best example recently was a mate who simply made a ring above canopy with a pressure reg tap controlling the flow, he used co2 24/7 bottle after bottle in a 1 light grow which tells me he was either wasting it too often too high or it was going straight out the vents co2 rises with light heat then sinks over canopy there was no noted advantage but a huge drop in quality more leaf in early flower late flower weight wasnt there but no PK was used and i heard there was a good week or two where the co2 ran out at the critical wk 3 to 5.

 

If you can bring co2 from 350ppm upto 1500ppm any which way switching on and off as needed, with timers to cut exhaust vents or baffles to allow plants time to use it there is said to be an effect of upto 30% increase takeing a good grow into and above 1.5gpw in 10weeks. Sounds good but we can bigger increase simply adding an extra light..

 

Im yet to see good co2 improvements in person but i know it works in the right room/temp/food/water ratios, demo rooms ive seen doing well with co2 localy often growing tulips or bulbs that are hard to guage if you growing anything other than same bulbs.. within 3 months i will have more info to report a mate has a pro co2 setup with all the goodies claims 30% increase + digi lights also 30% increase = 60% increase vs vented norm ballast room if claims are correct = over 2.25gpw in 10wks this will change how we all grow if its the case, true digi ballasts seem brighter but the spectrum isnt the same side by side.. Grower works in the hydro industry so best of the best is being used, tax write off as it was the store demo till pumps and globes got stolen now this test needs to be done at home with a simular but cheeper demo with tulips in place..

 

 

Good airflow, alot of light all the food the plant can use without going overboard, in a clean and tidy room is the place to start honestly ive been growing a while now and just havnt seen or been sold on CO2. Once your room works 100% and you understand all parts of the grow only then Co2 maybe my next step after digi ballasts if they prove also better than the norm HPS ballasts..

 

I just talked my mate out of an expensive starter grow $3000 for a tent 2x 400wt digi lights and co2 gen setup for my ideal starter kit 2x 600wt($400 for 2x ballasts shades and globes donated) a home made alli frame(alli scraps $0) airtight gro room of same size with the extra cash spent on a centrifugal fan and filter exchanging air every 60sec as a min the room will preform within 50 to 100g of eachother filled well corner to corner with healthy green leaves..

 

This basic set up does well, there is no reason co2 cant be added later with option of looking less hitech first up, with all the meth labs around co2 bottles seen lying around will set off alarm bells and looks more hitech for a personal grower even with the single light. Boc gas no cracking down so cheep co2.

 

Pm me the devil if you need a q answered i have a mate that has been going over the pros and cons for a long time, the head on his sholders is one of the best in the local sceen and wont steer you wrong when starting out..

 

Peace love and much green bud.

Thc

[The Devil]

Thanks thc for all the info, i think i get where your coming from. I believe i have all the basics youv'e mentioned covered, although iv'e never grown anything indoors so it is a big learning curve & i don't mind doing a bit of experimentation i was thinking to let off a Sodastream cannister in the room once a week to experiment, but thought i'd ask here first incase others are using this setup to get correct dosages.

 

Good idea about turning exhaust fans off etc! i never contemplated that.. I will have a play with it & let you guys know,plants are doing well so i can now afford to buggerise around a little again, & also would be much appreciated if you have any more info when youv'e fininshed doing your tests

 

I have the bike & treadmill in the same room as i thought my heavy excercise would produce plenty of excess CO2, but i haven't seen any rapid changes so far, although i have made a few mistakes over the last few weeks

 

Thanks for all your help

[The Devil]

Oh by the way, if you need to make a tent structure, Qubelok is nice & easy to build & very cheap

[thc24]

go check out some demo room at you local grow shop.

 

It really is the best way to get the understanding of how each system works DWC, run to waste, recirc are types of setups they can all use Co2. Id guess some tents are better than others for use with co2. Once co2 was mainly used in sealed grow rooms with AC and dehumidifiers used to control temps, but you can simply inject co2 into a passive inlet grow room which is more common here and cheeper to run without cooler and dehumidifier.

There would need to be some thought go into venting in and out of the room like baffles that close as fan speed drops sealing room to get the most out of the injections..

 

Try a grow without co2 then add it along the way then you can tell me how it went and some more of the pros and cons. Ive never seen the need to try co2 but im far from growing in perfect condition which is really the only time c02 gives a boost in early growth.

 

 

 

 

tents your choice build it yourself with quality alli tube and a reflective material and know youve got quality that can be pulled apart, extended using all room height.

 

Pre built tents ive seen good and bad once again, drive by a grow shop at night avoid the tents that glow.

Edited July 31, 2010 by thc24

[The Devil]

Well i decided to try another way 1st a couple of days back, i emptied half a container of baking soda in a bowl & added vinegar. In under 2hrs the plants did look very stand to attentionish if you get what i'm saying..(leaves pointing straight to the air), only thing i can't say for sure is, that the plants have all taken off again, but this could be due to me adding an extra vaporiser to get the humidity up to 75%, i also got rid of the HPS light & went back to MH, or that i repotted all plants into new soil in those pots with the air vent grill, plus i have been blasting the roots with a blowgun connected a low pressure regulator on my compressor. But definately the plants did look better when the room had the baking soda in it Thanks for all your help mate!