co2 question...

ok so its day nine of my first grow and things are going well so far...i just wanted to get some info from ALL OF YOU PROS out there.

I am purchasing my carbon scrubber this coming weekend along with an additional 8" inline fan...lotsa construction going on actually i will show you before and after pics next week sometime, but the room is almost there!!

anyhow im also gunna purchase a co2 system this weekend, I NEED HELP....
I need to know if im going the right direction for my 7x7 area....I wanto to get a co2 generator, but i notice the tank and regulater is a little less expensive, however common sense would tell me i will spend a lot more for the tank system once im finished refilling co2 tanks all the time.....So bekow is a link of what Im looking to buy...(GEN 1 model) FEEDBACK FROM EXPERIENCED GROWERS PLEASE!!


oops sorry...here it is

http://www.randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=341&navid=22

HELLO?? ANYONE THERE!!!!!!!!hahaha

morreallyrics said:

ok so its day nine of my first grow and things are going well so far...i just wanted to get some info from ALL OF YOU PROS out there.

I am purchasing my carbon scrubber this coming weekend along with an additional 8" inline fan...lotsa construction going on actually i will show you before and after pics next week sometime, but the room is almost there!!

anyhow im also gunna purchase a co2 system this weekend, I NEED HELP....
I need to know if im going the right direction for my 7x7 area....I wanto to get a co2 generator, but i notice the tank and regulater is a little less expensive, however common sense would tell me i will spend a lot more for the tank system once im finished refilling co2 tanks all the time.....So bekow is a link of what Im looking to buy...(GEN 1 model) FEEDBACK FROM EXPERIENCED GROWERS PLEASE!!


oops sorry...here it is

http://www.randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=341&navid=22

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its gaunna help but i personally consider it too much expense and hassle, i just use an old coke bottle, yeast, sugar and water. may not be technical but my yeild is fine. i'm an old school organic grower btw

yea it seems you have the old school tricks up your sleeve man hahaha....I imagine your way takes a little more experience than what i have eh?? money isnt a issue, im setting this up for commercial yields..

how big of an area can that coke bottle trick work for? and how often are you concockting ingedients for this technique?

dura72 said:

its gaunna help but i personally consider it too much expense and hassle, i just use an old coke bottle, yeast, sugar and water. may not be technical but my yeild is fine. i'm an old school organic grower btw

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dura72 said:

its gaunna help but i personally consider it too much expense and hassle, i just use an old coke bottle, yeast, sugar and water. may not be technical but my yeild is fine. i'm an old school organic grower btw

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basically what he said^^. it might be more efficient for you to use a tank and regulator with a 7x7 room. i only say this because if you are going to use co2, then i'm assuming you are in a sealed room. If your room is good and sealed, a 20 gallon tank could probably last you a flower cycle. this is assuming your exhaust scrubber and intake is just set up to come on if your temperature gets to high like 85-90 degrees. If you do that then you would just want a fan and scrubber close to the ground (close to the ground because c02 is denser than air and will sink, the fan will suck it up and redistribute what the plants didn't use by blowing it back up in the air) in the room circulating and filtering air so that there is no co2 loss, and have the light vented via air coming in the room, through the light, and then straight back out of the room so that it doesn't require a scrubber and it minimizes the need for the "emergency" exhaust/intake system. The key to using co2 is using it as efficiently as possible by holding on to it as long as possible. I'm not saying the burner won't work or be a good idea, but it's gonna take up a decent amount of room, especially if you only have a 7x7 area, and you still have operating costs because it will use natural gas or propane and require that much more exhausting of air from your grow. sorry i rambled on about it, super high right now lol

Ok thanks for your advice, im totally new so bare with me, frist off i screwed up when i was describing things...the whole room is like 10X14 not counting the walk in closet or the bathroom. the area in the room im growing in is around 7x7 so room isnt a issue, now im not sure if the room is completely sealed ...how can you you find out if youve efficently sealed the room for co2 use. any kind of test or something i can do/ hahaha yea i know what a rookie!

slomoking13 said:

basically what he said^^. it might be more efficient for you to use a tank and regulator with a 7x7 room. i only say this because if you are going to use co2, then i'm assuming you are in a sealed room. If your room is good and sealed, a 20 gallon tank could probably last you a flower cycle. this is assuming your exhaust scrubber and intake is just set up to come on if your temperature gets to high like 85-90 degrees. If you do that then you would just want a fan and scrubber close to the ground (close to the ground because c02 is denser than air and will sink, the fan will suck it up and redistribute what the plants didn't use by blowing it back up in the air) in the room circulating and filtering air so that there is no co2 loss, and have the light vented via air coming in the room, through the light, and then straight back out of the room so that it doesn't require a scrubber and it minimizes the need for the "emergency" exhaust/intake system. The key to using co2 is using it as efficiently as possible by holding on to it as long as possible. I'm not saying the burner won't work or be a good idea, but it's gonna take up a decent amount of room, especially if you only have a 7x7 area, and you still have operating costs because it will use natural gas or propane and require that much more exhausting of air from your grow. sorry i rambled on about it, super high right now lol

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you can look for light leaks first, if there is light leaking out through any cracks there's definatly air leakage as well. after that you can turn on your intake fan and walk around all areas that have the potential for leakage aka any incoming outgoing lines or anything, if you are on the outside of the room and air is blowing out then there is a leak there. If you are building the room from scratch, you can use spray foam insulation around all edges of the room then hang up poly, leave some overlap on the edges, and use some gorillay tape, spray adhesive, or what have you to seal the overlaps. seal all duct connections with a silicone or tape as well. Two common areas for air leakage are through the glass edges on your light reflector and anwhere there is a door so pay special attention to those areas. That's all just pretty common sense stuff, but hopefully it gives you an idea. Before actually growing i like to always try to build the environment and run it a few days without the plants just to make sure everything is within my control. This can eliminate a lot of potential problems in the long run.

How are you going to regulate the 1500 PPM of co2?
If you use a burner you will need a sensor/regulator that measures the PPM in the air, and kicks your burner on when needed. You set a point when you want the Burner to kick on, (1200PPM) and another to kick the Burner off (1600PPM). If you don't have this, then your only guessing at the PPM of co2 in the air. This can get very costly and danerous. You don't want to put to much PPM of co2 in the air, you will poison your plants, and yourself/family if growing in the home.
This is what I do...
I use a 50 lb. co2 tank, and a Green Air regulator. Go to this web site and put in your numbers for your grow room size.
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp
My grow room is 11x15x7 and I release the co2 @ 20cfh. They tell me 4.123 minutes to get my room at a perfect 1500 PPM of co2.
So the lights kick on at 8:00 am, the co2 kicks on at 8:30am and is released thru the back of the osculating fan to blow the co2 over the tops of the girls until 8:34am (3 osculating fans stays on 24/7). So now my PPM of co2 is near 1500PPM in the grow room. Again at 9:30 the co2 kicks on for 1 minute. I'm not sure how much co2 has been used/lost during the first hour, so I add 25% (about 300PPM) to the room. I do this again at 10:30am, an hour later.
So if no co2 is lost (I doubt that will happen) in the room, and I add 300PPm of co2 twice, that only brings the levels to 2100PPM of co2. I don't want to keep adding co2 at unknown levels. So, at 11:20am the Exhaust/inlet fans kick on at full blast for 9 minutes. This clears the room of the unknown amount of co2 in the room and brings it back to 300PPM which is a normal level. Fans shut off at 11:29am, and at 11:30am the co2 comes on for four minutes to get the PPM of co2 in the room at 1500PPM again, and the cycle repeats it's self every 3 hours. I know doing it like this is wasteful on the co2, but my math tells me that a 50lb tank will last me about 2 months. Cost me $8.00 a month to rent the tank, and $30.00 to refill the tank.
If I use the co2 for 4 months (average grow time), it costs me $30.00 x 2 refills, and $8.00 x 4 months rent, which is under $100. Now that I think about it a bit less, lights will be on 25% less (12 hours) when in flower, so 25% less co2 will be used.
Hope this helps-TMB

Thanks that helped alot. However, i used the same calculator on that page and it said it would take me 88.423 minutes...it didnt seem right so i put in the measurements of the room you mentioned and i got a different number than 4 minutes i got 83.16 minutes for your room....that means i should run the tank for an hour and a half aprox???

bare with me im new to this hahahaha thanks for your help, it is very much apreciated!

OH OKAY SORRY i figured it out!! hahaha thanks again

treemansbuds said:

How are you going to regulate the 1500 PPM of co2?
If you use a burner you will need a sensor/regulator that measures the PPM in the air, and kicks your burner on when needed. You set a point when you want the Burner to kick on, (1200PPM) and another to kick the Burner off (1600PPM). If you don't have this, then your only guessing at the PPM of co2 in the air. This can get very costly and danerous. You don't want to put to much PPM of co2 in the air, you will poison your plants, and yourself/family if growing in the home.
This is what I do...
I use a 50 lb. co2 tank, and a Green Air regulator. Go to this web site and put in your numbers for your grow room size.
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp
My grow room is 11x15x7 and I release the co2 @ 20cfh. They tell me 4.123 minutes to get my room at a perfect 1500 PPM of co2.
So the lights kick on at 8:00 am, the co2 kicks on at 8:30am and is released thru the back of the osculating fan to blow the co2 over the tops of the girls until 8:34am (3 osculating fans stays on 24/7). So now my PPM of co2 is near 1500PPM in the grow room. Again at 9:30 the co2 kicks on for 1 minute. I'm not sure how much co2 has been used/lost during the first hour, so I add 25% (about 300PPM) to the room. I do this again at 10:30am, an hour later.
So if no co2 is lost (I doubt that will happen) in the room, and I add 300PPm of co2 twice, that only brings the levels to 2100PPM of co2. I don't want to keep adding co2 at unknown levels. So, at 11:20am the Exhaust/inlet fans kick on at full blast for 9 minutes. This clears the room of the unknown amount of co2 in the room and brings it back to 300PPM which is a normal level. Fans shut off at 11:29am, and at 11:30am the co2 comes on for four minutes to get the PPM of co2 in the room at 1500PPM again, and the cycle repeats it's self every 3 hours. I know doing it like this is wasteful on the co2, but my math tells me that a 50lb tank will last me about 2 months. Cost me $8.00 a month to rent the tank, and $30.00 to refill the tank.
If I use the co2 for 4 months (average grow time), it costs me $30.00 x 2 refills, and $8.00 x 4 months rent, which is under $100. Now that I think about it a bit less, lights will be on 25% less (12 hours) when in flower, so 25% less co2 will be used.
Hope this helps-TMB

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You are far from ready to start up a commercial garden. Grow a few crops of bagseed and experiment, experiment, experiment. Also do 3x the amount of reading than you do experimenting.

I use CO2 tablets that you buy at aquarium supply stores. You drop them in a cup of water and it produces 350CC of CO2 within a few minutes. When you add supplemental CO2 your humidity and temp will go up, but adding supplemental CO2 will allow your plants to withstand higher temperatures and more intense light.

im sorry but i was simply asking about c02 not if im ready to grow or not.....

I appreciate your input however the fact is, ive set up the room already and im already a couple weeks into the grow...so im not just going to change my mind about doing it. i was just simply looking for suggestions as far as co2 goes, not your opinion of when i should start growing or not. im very well aware that im new to growing pot. thanks

will look into the tablets!

greensister said:

You are far from ready to start up a commercial garden. Grow a few crops of bagseed and experiment, experiment, experiment. Also do 3x the amount of reading than you do experimenting.

I use CO2 tablets that you buy at aquarium supply stores. You drop them in a cup of water and it produces 350CC of CO2 within a few minutes. When you add supplemental CO2 your humidity and temp will go up, but adding supplemental CO2 will allow your plants to withstand higher temperatures and more intense light.

Click to expand...