Co2- Is there enough....

aeviaanah

aeviaanah

Well-Known Member
How much will supplemental co2 help a small grow room (3-5 plants) which currently uses central heating and air for circulation and temp. control. I understand it helps large grow rooms because the plants use co2 and it becomes depleted from the atmosphere, but what about small rooms??
 
podunk421

podunk421

Active Member
aeviaanah said:
How much will supplemental co2 help a small grow room (3-5 plants) which currently uses central heating and air for circulation and temp. control. I understand it helps large grow rooms because the plants use co2 and it becomes depleted from the atmosphere, but what about small rooms??
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I dont use any form of supplemental co2 but am only running a 3 cu' grow. I dont see it as something to waste money on for such a small area, adequate ventilation should provide the co2 necessary for growth. If you are hard pressed on spending the money, there are much better things to spend it on for a grow of your size.
 
moash

moash

New Member
well if its something u r insistant on doing
i have read that u should have around 400 ppm per sq ft
and it should be air tight so u dont waste it
 
deeptissueteacher

deeptissueteacher

Member
I run 1500 ppm in my 2x4x8 closet and my plants are rocking! Best you'll get w/o supplementation is in the high 300 to mid 400 ppm range.
 
aeviaanah

aeviaanah

Well-Known Member
deeptissueteacher said:
I run 1500 ppm in my 2x4x8 closet and my plants are rocking! Best you'll get w/o supplementation is in the high 300 to mid 400 ppm range.
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deeptissueteacher, do you have any plants that dont get this supplemental dose of co2? if so, how are they compared?
 
deeptissueteacher

deeptissueteacher

Member
aeviaanah said:
deeptissueteacher, do you have any plants that dont get this supplemental dose of co2? if so, how are they compared?
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This is my first grow and I'm trying to cover all the bases. I have an indoor grow tent and an outdoor 8x12 greenhouse. The indoor has Co2 enrichment,Hepa filtration, an air cooled 600w MH with Digi ballast, humidifier and a 5000 btu $100 home depot a/c unit. Controlling the enviro is a Sentinel CHHC-1 controller (which is so awesome btw)
I have 7 plants ( 6 Afghani Kush/1 White Widow) outside in the nice So-Cal brilliant sun. 2 of them started off in the indoor under a Sunblaze 44 4ft 4 bulb t5 CFL fixture. I kept the light CLOSE since the fixture was amazingly cool. The plants grew well and I vegged them longer that the outdoors (the outdoors started flowering 2 weeks b4) The outdoor plants are doing well but obviously grow differently than the indoors. The indoors got bushier and stayed compact (less stretching) compared to my outdoors. The leaves were also much darker green but that may be from the Co2? I moved the two Afghani's outside to flower since I did not yet have the HID bulbs and didn't want the CFL's to do it. Those two plants have been outside since mid july. I've been learning so much along the way so I had a chance to prune the indoors better and the buds are more in the canopies and look dense! When I moved the two girls outside from the tent I swapped them for 2 WW's and a Green Crack. I started those two (all have been clones by the way bought from dispensaries) under the CFL's but could take the slowness any longer : ) I JUST got my MH/HPS bulb setup 2 days ago and the difference in grow rate in phenomenal. The CFL's seemed to do a great job at quality grow but the slower speed was quite obvious. I'll post some pics : )
 
aeviaanah

aeviaanah

Well-Known Member
moderator shouldnt have to approve pics. i just attach em and they show up right after i post em. you got a nice setup for a first timer eh? 100 dollar ac unit at home depot? is it window mounted?
 
deeptissueteacher

deeptissueteacher

Member
no window mount...I cut a hole in the side of the tent with the exhaust end sticking out. It's plugged into my controller so it keeps the temps right where I want them. It's exhausted into a temporarily unoccupied bedroom which then exhausts to outside. Been a bit warm in the room...mid 90's but the grow tent is a comfortable 83-86 degrees. Still figuring out the optimal temp with the Co2 and the HID. I've heard to run higher temps all the way up to 90 with Co2 but I'm thinking low 80's is okay till I get a feel for things. Any one running enrichment that could offer some experience with the matter?
 
aeviaanah

aeviaanah

Well-Known Member
i think you might be better off mounting it in the window and running ducting to the grow tent. i have mine setup in my closet i keep my central air conditioner running at 75 all day and i run a flex duct from the vent in the room over to the closet, rigged it up so it blows cool air on em all day. outside temps 95 degrees inside of grow room is about 80. you are just taking that hot air outside of the tent to the room. the tent is heating up because the room is hot
 
deeptissueteacher

deeptissueteacher

Member
Good point and I was aware of that fact. I'm in the process of moving the tent into the garage where I will exhaust the a/c outdoors more efficiently. I would have done it now but it's my roommate's room and this was just a temporary setup. I do have the a/c close to the window with a powerful fan pulling it outside, so the a/c really doesn't even kick on that much as it is. It's just freakin hot here (dead of summer). my bedroom isn't much cooler than the grow room. Thanks so much for the advice. Our house doesn't use central air....we use the coastal breeze : ) It has been unusually hot for right next to the beach though so I'm looking forward to lower electric bills through the fall.
 
aeviaanah

aeviaanah

Well-Known Member
plants are looking real good, they arent stretching much which is a good thing. the two on the right look a little on the light green side. what are you feeding them and how often? looks a little nitrogen deficient, i could be wrong tho.
 
deeptissueteacher

deeptissueteacher

Member
Good eye...yeah I gave them a dose of some Fox Farms Grow Big this morning. I foliar fed them a few days back and wanted to give them some N (Grow Big) but the soil seemed pretty moist still from the last watering. The foliar feeding greened them up a bit and the feeding with Grow Big this morning should help. I've been trying to figure out the nutes on the indoors with the Co2. Figured it would be better to be a little deficient than excessive till I figured it out and got my setup dialed in. I know they use more nutes when enriched with C02 so I'm making adjustments. I've been a little gunshy on the nutes after a scare with my outdoor Kush. I've been so focused on the outdoor Kushs', which I'm in love with : ) I gave one of the (indoor moved outdoor) Kush plants too heavy a dose of FF Open Sesame and burned 25-30% of the leaves. I flushed a little later that day after I started noticing my girl getting a serious sunburn. A good flush stopped further damage and the flowers still look great. She's still standing tall and flowering. Phew!

I'm really respecting the power of good/concentrated nutes and am really trying to gradually increase dosage without under or over feeding. Seems like something experience and knowing your strain can help with. I'm working on developing a Mother plant. When my roommate gets back he's gonna match me on the small fortune I've spent and set up his own indoor. I wanna talk him into one of the big tents with the divider so we can have a veg/flowering tent and use the one I have now for a mother. Unless there are better ideas....Always open. My way isnt' always the best...that's why we join forums right? : ) I'll post some pics after dinner
 
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