Ethylene, a small colorless, odorless gas composed of two carbon and four hydrogen atoms (C2H4), is responsible for both beneficial and undesirable effects in greenhouse crops. It can prevent flowering, shorten internode length, increase branching, initiate fruit ripening, trigger leaf and flower senescence and abscission, cause leaf chlorosis (yellowing), and improve adventitious rooting. Some crops are relatively insensitive to ethylene while others are very sensitive. For example, Poinsettia shows little change after a 24 hour 1 ppm ethylene exposure, yet Cuphea hyssopifolia abscises all flowers after a 24 hour 0.01 ppm exposure. There are many potential sources of unwanted ethylene such as ripening fruit, decomposing organic matter, and exhaust from furnaces and vehicles. Because several factors can simultaneously impact a plant’s response to ethylene, it is easy to see why assessing a potential ethylene problem can be tricky. Some symptoms of exposure can be transient, while others show up long after the ethylene exposure has occurred, still other responses show up only after long-term exposure. To help you eliminate ethylene related crop delays and losses from your operation, this webpage details what short term and chronic low concentration ethylene exposure looks like, how to detect ethylene, track down the source, and fix the problem.
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/mattson/leatherwood/
Seems do describe my problems to a T
I got some interesting pics to throw up tonight..
A combustion CO2 generator burns propane or natural gas to output CO2. When there is enough oxygen available in the room a "clean combustion" not producing carbon monoxide (toxic to humans) nor ethylene gas (toxic to plants) is obtained. Thus, hourly ventilation between 1 to 3 minutes is required to replenish the oxygen level for a 24 000 Btu generator. For reference, a 24,000 Btu/hour gas generator outputs about 13 standard cubic feet of CO2 per hour.
The flames on tha co2 burners are definatly not burning clean, I should have noticed this because I weld and use a torch frequently.
