CO2, electric blankets, and free booze!

Hi guys, new here (but not to growing). I was just researching propane heaters CO2 output and came accross this site. Found some useful info, and decided to stick to my thermostatically controled fan heater and electric blankets for winter use. Although a brief search through the forums showed me that no-one else has thought of (or at least shared) a brilliantly ellegant solution to a few problems. So I shall share :-
CO2 makes a huge difference to the health, size, and heat resistance of plants. And in an enclosed space, this can be a problem. I stumbled accross a nice solution awhile ago, which is homebrewing! Brew beer/wine in your growroom, near your circulation fans to spread it around, and far away from your vent fans so it doesn't get wasted. It is a perfect solution as plants 'breathe' CO2 in the day, and as temperatures are higher in the grow room in the day time, the yeast reacts faster, and more CO2 is produced. A quick search online will find you everything you need to get set up in homebrewing, and ofc as a bonus, you get cheap drink too! If you don't want/need the cheap booze, a brewing bucket/demijohn with yeast and sugar will do the job too. The next subject is heat, I mostly rely on electric blankets in winter, find one that has a 'night' setting, which is about 25c (80f ish i think) having these under your plants keeps the roots nice and warm and helps nutrient absorbtion, and most importantly, is about 20x more efficant than a fan heater, though i also have a fan heater with the thermostat set up to boost the heat on really cold night. Have a seperate electric blanket under the brewing stuff, as you will not want to be producing CO2 at night time.
Ok, I hope that helps, happy to answer any questions you may have.

a lot of people combine sugar, warm water, and yeast into a bucket. its basically the same thing, but i definitely would not drink the alcohol it produces

Luger187 said:

a lot of people combine sugar, warm water, and yeast into a bucket. its basically the same thing, but i definitely would not drink the alcohol it produces

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Yup, though you could if you really wanted to I guess. And sugar is cheaper than baking soda, and imo this is the best way(or at least easiest, cheapest and most hassle free) to produce
CO2 for homegrowers.

Well one problem with that idea is its to warm in the grow space the beer you brew will taste like shit. The higher temp will produce off taste to the brew. Been brewing homebrew for bout 10 year and cooler temps make better beer.

sams club 12lb bag of baking soda 6 bucks, 2 gals vinegar 3 bucks. I have to disagree that the sugar yeast method is cheaper.

Hi Captin

I might give the electric blanket a go and replace my oil filled heater , The heater works well but i think it prolly eats electricity .

Think the blanket might be cheaper to use ?>

Aren't electric blankets meant not to get wet isn't dangerous to put them in a grow room were spills can happen. Just a question not trying to say you're wrong or anything just wondering about safety.

varscience21 said:

Aren't electric blankets meant not to get wet isn't dangerous to put them in a grow room were spills can happen. Just a question not trying to say you're wrong or anything just wondering about safety.

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if your pots were in trays I don't think it would be much of an issue. you could always wrap the blanket up in thick plastic drop tarps. so long as you're in anything but DWC, I don't think it'd be too treacherous, but a DWC set up might be sketchy sittin on electric blankets; better off with aquarium heaters...

Besides plants don't like 80 degree roots they like there roots cooler than the air like 68 degrees is optimum the only thing you will get with 80 degree root temps is rot lol!
To put this into perspective I set my water temp at 75 for cuttings and drop it back down once they develop roots if I raised it they would rot for sure!

I seen something the other day that was interesting , A guy had attached a load of incandecent lights to a sheet of wood and added a dimmer switch ...turned 2 large draws on top of the lights and then sat his pots on top .

He could regulate the heat in the boxes by turning the dimmer up and down ... Pretty cheap way to make a heat mat i guess

I bought a small electric blanket 3 years ago, and have it under my clones. I covered it with a HD plastic. Keeps my clones at a constant 76.

Yes, that is true, beer needs lower temps, wine is ok at 25c though.

Vento said:

Hi Captin

I might give the electric blanket a go and replace my oil filled heater , The heater works well but i think it prolly eats electricity .

Think the blanket might be cheaper to use ?>

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Yes, very efficant as heat rises and its under all your stuff, although it really depends on how cold your room is getting, you can't use it on anything but the lowest setting cos you don't want to cook your roots. Though i guess if you were to raise your pots from the floor on some wooden slats this would prevent that.. Hmm.. actually I may try that... But it isn't a total solution, I use a fan heater as well for when it gets really cold, but I just got an oil heater for my bedroom, and noticed the huge savings in electricity costs, so i'm thinking for swaping the fan heater for one.

woodsmaneh! said:

I bought a small electric blanket 3 years ago, and have it under my clones. I covered it with a HD plastic. Keeps my clones at a constant 76.

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Yup! Great for that, i got a single for my clones and veg room, and a double for the flower room.

bobbypyn said:

if your pots were in trays I don't think it would be much of an issue. you could always wrap the blanket up in thick plastic drop tarps. so long as you're in anything but DWC, I don't think it'd be too treacherous, but a DWC set up might be sketchy sittin on electric blankets; better off with aquarium heaters...

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You can get machine washable electric blankets too, and yes, its all covered in black/white plastic anyway, so noy huge issue. Aquarium heaters cost you twice as much, and are a fraction of the size. I had thought of using one just for the propogator, but then I saw these lil electric blankets for pet baskets on ebay for £5. Also, my grow room is 21 square feet, so a double electric blanket fits quite well.

delstele said:

Well one problem with that idea is its to warm in the grow space the beer you brew will taste like shit. The higher temp will produce off taste to the brew. Been brewing homebrew for bout 10 year and cooler temps make better beer.

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Beer I have made this way came out ok, but for sure it was better at lower temps. Though an idea I've being toying with is making cider and using a home distiller (about £70) to make brandy. I guess the original quality of the cider doesn't matter so much, and anyway, cider can be brewed hotter and faster than beer.
I should also add that anything brewed in a grow room need to be protected from the light, as yeast doesn't like strong light. Thick plastic or a cardboard box is fine for this.

wiseguy316 said:

sams club 12lb bag of baking soda 6 bucks, 2 gals vinegar 3 bucks. I have to disagree that the sugar yeast method is cheaper.

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I was in USA for awhile, and I remember that was the price there for such things. Here in the UK essential items are not only untaxed, but subsidised (eg. - loaf of bread - usa $1.50+ UK - $0.50+, can of beans - usa $1 Uk - $0.30) So here we can get 12lbs of sugar for $6.
Not to mention a 14th centuary law here means that you can go to a baker or brewer and get yeast for free! I guess it was so that the poor could make their own beer n bread.

In my ideal world where the little people are free to do as they will without the bizarre legislative heritage we work under now, I'd be running a pretty good-sized microdistillery combined with a small-sized Amsterdam-style cafe, huge fermenting tanks offgassing right into a controlled grow room. I remember reading about this idea on a home distilling website in a thread discussing what to do with the massive amounts of co2 produced during a big ferment, and I don't remember the figures but in a large scale it's very, very worth it. This might work even more efficiently in a fuel-alcohol arrangement because undesirable congeners/compounds from high-temp fermentations aren't an issue there.

Yea man, I love the idea of self surficiantcy and intergrated systems, despite the shaved head, tattoos and piercings I guess I'm a bit of a hippy! ;-P
Would be great to do it all with wind/solar power, and grow all my own stuff. Though I do grow veg in the garden, and tobacco this year I think too!
Also got some herbs in the corner of my veg room so I get fresh herbs to cook with all year round.

Captain Jaz said:

Beer I have made this way came out ok, but for sure it was better at lower temps. Though an idea I've being toying with is making cider and using a home distiller (about £70) to make brandy. I guess the original quality of the cider doesn't matter so much, and anyway, cider can be brewed hotter and faster than beer.
I should also add that anything brewed in a grow room need to be protected from the light, as yeast doesn't like strong light. Thick plastic or a cardboard box is fine for this.

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Ah yes I forgot the no light too bro sorry..