What advantages are using co2?

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Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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If you are running CO2, you really want total control over all grow set points to be able to use it effectively. I think of it like an amplifier, but to an electrical engineer everything comes back to electrons lol. The amplifier can take what you are doing and make it a little bigger, a little faster, etc. But that also means that it will amplify problems or weak spots.

I run RDWC and CO2, and the growth rate is up there with the best of 'em. But if I have a problem, that also means I have less time to react before the train runs off the tracks. When I am pressing hard, I need to check the plants a lot for any sign of stress, and immediately jump on the issue. That grow style is not for everyone. Not sure if it is for you.

It DOES force you to climb up the learning curve pretty fast tho if that is what you are going for.

Another analogy - you can put NOS on any car. But only the ones that have been built to take it will not throw a cam or something when you use it.

In terms of the cost vs gain - I have yet to find a cheaper way to immediately impact the gain in the plants. I average $20 in CO2 used per grow.

So yeah, good and bad.
This is a rwally good way to simplify the answer so nrw growers can understand
 
C

concreter68

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I reckon you will find the plants will raise humidity after a couple weeks when they start to get going and drinking more..it should work really well in veg..im a little jelly you have an ac in there..that will really come in handy with the cold morning you get but warm days.actually it would b good for you to run lights on through the night if your not already and your rh mightn raise all that much as you get warm days.quite the opposite here in tas.cold nights ,cold dys lol..i dread lights off here in flower..
I think u are right about humidity getting higher as plants drink more ,that is why I think this humidifier will only be good at start of grow when looking for 70% humidity,I will just have to play it as it happen I guess ,I am looking at getting solar so lights will have to be on dur day to get value out of electricity,maybe summer might be night and look into leds ,I am long time smoker new to indoor growing trying to get best Mother Nature I can do.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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I think u are right about humidity getting higher as plants drink more ,that is why I think this humidifier will only be good at start of grow when looking for 70% humidity,I will just have to play it as it happen I guess ,I am looking at getting solar so lights will have to be on dur day to get value out of electricity,maybe summer might be night and look into leds ,I am long time smoker new to indoor growing trying to get best Mother Nature I can do.
Plants expel 95% of water they uptake back out from the leaves into the air. They will most definitely hunidify your space
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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Plants expel 95% of water they uptake back out from the leaves into the air. They will most definitely hunidify your space
+1

Dehumidification (a lot of it if you have a fair amount of plants) is way more important that humidification.

For me, I only need to add water for about 2 weeks in seedling / early veg then I can unplug the humidifier completely for the rest of the grow.

In my 4x8 I had to upgrade from a 30L to 70L dehuy to keep RH down in a range where VPD is correct and no bud rot. It sucks close to 10 Gal a day out of the air and sometimes still struggles. Sealed rooms are pretty unforgiving.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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+1

Dehumidification (a lot of it if you have a fair amount of plants) is way more important that humidification.

For me, I only need to add water for about 2 weeks in seedling / early veg then I can unplug the humidifier completely for the rest of the grow.

In my 4x8 I had to upgrade from a 30L to 70L dehuy to keep RH down in a range where VPD is correct and no bud rot. It sucks close to 10 Gal a day out of the air and sometimes still struggles. Sealed rooms are pretty unforgiving.
Yeah plan for 1.5 gpd per plant to be safe in hydro. Its crazy how much they drink when you start measuring
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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+1

Dehumidification (a lot of it if you have a fair amount of plants) is way more important that humidification.

For me, I only need to add water for about 2 weeks in seedling / early veg then I can unplug the humidifier completely for the rest of the grow.

In my 4x8 I had to upgrade from a 30L to 70L dehuy to keep RH down in a range where VPD is correct and no bud rot. It sucks close to 10 Gal a day out of the air and sometimes still struggles. Sealed rooms are pretty unforgiving.
1-1.25 gal per day per plant is not abnormal to see. At 1gpd that 61L. Then you need to account that a dehuey is tested I believe at 25c and 60% RH the higher the temp and humidity the more efficient it is. So if your trying to achieve 40% the further your humidity gets below 60% the less efficient it becomes and the harder it works.

So if your dehumidifier is struggling you can try to raise the setpoint a little to help it along
 
Observationist

Observationist

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1-1.25 gal per day per plant is not abnormal to see. At 1gpd that 61L. Then you need to account that a dehuey is tested I believe at 25c and 60% RH the higher the temp and humidity the more efficient it is. So if your trying to achieve 40% the further your humidity gets below 60% the less efficient it becomes and the harder it works.

So if your dehumidifier is struggling you can try to raise the setpoint a little to help it along
Could an efficient system use that water that’s pulled out of the air back into reservoirs? Possibly?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Could an efficient system use that water that’s pulled out of the air back into reservoirs? Possibly?
Yes absolutely… but then you need to account that you could possibly be introducing pathogens or other contaminants into your system. If the coils are keep clean and maintained thisbis much less of a concern
 
Observationist

Observationist

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Yes absolutely… but then you need to account that you could possibly be introducing pathogens or other contaminants into your system. If the coils are keep clean and maintained thisbis much less of a concern
Some highly advanced system there, All recirculated.

UV light to sanitize the coils.

I wonder if nasa does anything like that, growing veggies in the space station.
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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Yes absolutely… but then you need to account that you could possibly be introducing pathogens or other contaminants into your system. If the coils are keep clean and maintained thisbis much less of a concern
I’m pretty clean as far as grow spaces go but I could not prevent biofilm in the hoses when I put my ac and dehumidifier outputs into my res. I run a little pump to drain on both of them now on the tent where I cannot go to drain with gravity. Got a little sludgy in there.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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I’m pretty clean as far as grow spaces go but I could not prevent biofilm in the hoses when I put my ac and dehumidifier outputs into my res. I run a little pump to drain on both of them now on the tent where I cannot go to drain with gravity. Got a little sludgy in there.
Yeah id think a sterilization method would be needed in all areas from collection to delivery
 
Deadstill

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Personally I like to use CO2 because it's cheaper and easier than trying to run A/C in my grow room 24/7 - I've found since adding CO2 to my sealed grow room, plants do better at higher temps, electric bill went down 25-30%, RH stays more stable when it's not battling an A/C unit drying the air out all day - all around better results.
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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Personally I like to use CO2 because it's cheaper and easier than trying to run A/C in my grow room 24/7 - I've found since adding CO2 to my sealed grow room, plants do better at higher temps, electric bill went down 25-30%, RH stays more stable when it's not battling an A/C unit drying the air out all day - all around better results.
There is a commercial grow across the river from me that uses it for exactly that reason. They are the biggest customer of the place I get my tanks filled says the guy behind the counter. It must work or they wouldn’t buy it.
 
Deadstill

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There is a commercial grow across the river from me that uses it for exactly that reason. They are the biggest customer of the place I get my tanks filled says the guy behind the counter. It must work or they wouldn’t buy it.
The only thing I don't know for sure is which is cheaper - bottled CO2 or propane. I prefer propane for a couple of reasons I won't get into but mostly because it's easier to find and up until recently was reasonably affordable - I haven't bought any propane in the last 2 months so I can't say how much it costs to fill a tank now but the last time I filled a tank it cost a little under 20 bucks (the short 5 gallon tanks) and lasts usually 3 to 4 months keeping my grow room at 2500ppm all day.
 
Observationist

Observationist

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I’m pretty clean as far as grow spaces go but I could not prevent biofilm in the hoses when I put my ac and dehumidifier outputs into my res. I run a little pump to drain on both of them now on the tent where I cannot go to drain with gravity. Got a little sludgy in there.
Sweet.

Someone here did it
 
Observationist

Observationist

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Personally I like to use CO2 because it's cheaper and easier than trying to run A/C in my grow room 24/7 - I've found since adding CO2 to my sealed grow room, plants do better at higher temps, electric bill went down 25-30%, RH stays more stable when it's not battling an A/C unit drying the air out all day - all around better results.
That’s crazy, adding the co2 made the environment.

Or

That’s all you were missing
 
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Observationist

Observationist

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The only thing I don't know for sure is which is cheaper - bottled CO2 or propane. I prefer propane for a couple of reasons I won't get into but mostly because it's easier to find and up until recently was reasonably affordable - I haven't bought any propane in the last 2 months so I can't say how much it costs to fill a tank now but the last time I filled a tank it cost a little under 20 bucks (the short 5 gallon tanks) and lasts usually 3 to 4 months keeping my grow room at 2500ppm all day.
How do you safely burn the propane to release co2?
 
Observationist

Observationist

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There is a commercial grow across the river from me that uses it for exactly that reason. They are the biggest customer of the place I get my tanks filled says the guy behind the counter. It must work or they wouldn’t buy it.
Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it

I just need to get a tank

I figured I had to have every other variable in place (and you do/should) and I just might now.

I’ll start looking into co2 and see if it helps, if my other parameters are correct, once I get it, I’ll update of course
 
Deadstill

Deadstill

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How do you safely burn the propane to release co2?
I have a Titan Atlas CO2 controller and an old Green Air Products propane/natural gas CO2 generator hanging in my grow room

The excess heat doesn't matter at all it only has to run a couple minutes to fill my sealed room and having higher temps in CO2 is better anyway

I also have a propane powered shower and I use 4" ducting and an in-line fan to pull the CO2 that generates into my grow-room as well.
 
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