Is co2 killing my flavor?

[mrpotatohead]

I've been running the same four strains for a couple of years now. Last summer I started using a co2 burner. I run lights-on temps of around 86 degrees and my ppms are 1500. It seems like the bud I grew without co2 tasted and smelled way better. Any thoughts on why?

 

[lost in a sea]

technically with more co2 to make sugars and compounds like flavanoids and terpenes your bud should have tasted better,, maybe there was more temperature spikes with the co2 running,,,

 

[mrpotatohead]

Well aren't you supposed to run daytime temps of approx 86 so the co2 can do it's thing???

 

[GoneRooty]

CO2 increases the rate of photosynthesis in the plant at higher temperatures. Since photosynthesis is a chemical reaction, it proceeds at a faster rate at higher temperatures (generally rates double for every 10*F increase in Temp). Since CO2 is the limiting factor in plant growth and photosynthesis rates, increasing the amount of CO2 available to the plant, you can increase the rate of photosynthesis, thereby increasing growth rates in the plants. This increase in plant growth is dependent of course on sufficiently available CO2, water, and food.

 

[Jibman]

Co2 allows one to have higher temps in the room, But higher temps bring other problems.

 

[303hydro]

Correcto on the Temps Mr. Potato. I don't know the whole story but Nutrients affect taste more than anything.....

 

[mrpotatohead]

I was using Foxfarm before I started co2 and my strains tasted really good. Then, after I raised the temps and started using the burner, they don't taste as good as before. Then I switched over to House and Garden and the flavor/smell is about the same. I really think it must be the higher temps. There's something to be said for simplicity...

 

[Zarezhu]

A dude I met in one of my hort classes who was growing indoor commercially told me he tried co2 for a round and never again. I guess the nugs were bigger but he tells me they weren't as potent. Didn't say nothing about smell.

My opinion: Eh. So many things could be a factor. Time of year you're growing (winter ftw), heat, nute regimen, etc. This could all effect taste and potency of buds. I'd like to try it myself. Run a controlled experiment, few harvests without and few harvests with, no other variables changed. However, if you're growing noticeably bigger buds, yeah it should definitely be worth it. Even if it takes a little more bud to get you high, you have that extra bud.

If this grow is for profit, use co2. If it's strictly personal and you're a connoisseur, go 100% organic and run both spectrums when you flower. Guaranteed your bud will be flavorful and smooooth.

Lol. But what do I know.

 

[Zarezhu]

@ your last post. I definitely believe temperature would affect smell and taste of buds.

In my own experience, which might not mean much to anybody, I have found the cooler the temperatures, the more dank the nugs are.

Indoor and out. 100 degree heat and wind is why I believe my outdoor buds aren't as dank as my indoor buds.

You definitely sacrifice yield the colder your temps get, but it comes down to what you want. Find the happy medium. I love bud that's grown at 75 daytime and gets real cold at night during flower. Get's those insane colors, and the smell to go with them.

 

[Dislexus]

Sigh Zarezhu you're making me wish i could do a window AC.

 

[GoneRooty]

One thing people don't remember about temperature is that many, if not all tropical sativas grow in hotter temps. For example, Thailand averages daily temps in the 90'sF and grows some of the best sativas. Many parts of Africa have high temps and grow great ganja. As long as you have adequate CO2, Water, nutrients and air movement, higher temps aren't such a problem.

 

[spice]

many terpenes are temp volatile above 80 degrees

 

[the med man]

from my experience, strain always comes first with taste. i grew a ton of afghani and nl#5 in the 90's, 100 percent organic, and they still tasted like charred wood lol. maybe a sweet lip after toke feel, but thats it. bc big bud tasted the best back then becuase of the hawaiian parent. so citrusy,

any way, after strain is nutes in importance. plants can "tolerate" higher temps with co2, but doesnt mean you should abuse that fact, especially if the strain is temp sensitive. ive always ran 80 degree day time and 70-80 night time. this for me has always been the results. i did grow alot of sativas around the millenium, and they loved 90 degrees, so if you have a salad grow just try to find the happy medium, peace, mm

 

[jjh1957]

I'm a newbie, but have read lots of posts from people who claim that CO2 wrecks the taste. This is only what I have read from others., so nobody bite my head off. But again lots of people swear by it, so go figure.

 

[BigDawg]

did you gradually lowers your c02 ppm's as you got closer to flush and harvest?

 

[Weird]

i used to always use co2 when i ran some old school stinkers and i never had that issue

i did find that if i let them get to hot and dry i could "flash" off some of the smell/flavor

imhe the most orifice and tasty oils are sometimes the most delicate and require the most care to preserve over the long term

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

@ your last post. I definitely believe temperature would affect smell and taste of buds.

In my own experience, which might not mean much to anybody, I have found the cooler the temperatures, the more dank the nugs are.

Indoor and out. 100 degree heat and wind is why I believe my outdoor buds aren't as dank as my indoor buds.

You definitely sacrifice yield the colder your temps get, but it comes down to what you want. Find the happy medium. I love bud that's grown at 75 daytime and gets real cold at night during flower. Get's those insane colors, and the smell to go with them.

Amazing, someone Neg Repped what I think is good advice here.

C02 should be lowered to normal levels a few weeks before Harvest, Likewise, I believe lights should be raised and some turned off before harvest, like the lowering of natural light levels in Autumn, Buds are not used to high levels and the flavours get cooked in hot temps.

 

[volhead]

gotta bring your co2 back down to ambient outside levels when strain starts producing essential oils. some breeders give info when essential oil production starts cut your co2 back then. ive never had a problem with taste cause of c02. i dont really know the science behind that but what im told is high c02 can inhibit essential oil production.good luck! if not this then maybe your nutes what do you run?