C02 in a non sealed room.

[Fatboyjay]

So, I've been lurking and reading, and reading, and reading, and I've got most of my plan thought out. I want a 4x 1000w light, sog, perpetual harvest flowering room that will have a hepa filter intake, and a carbon filter exhaust. I'll cool the room with a mini split and multiple fans to keep air moving, but where I'm getting hung up is on C02 regulation. C02 is heavier so it sinks, but with an exhaust it would seem to be wasted.

Can I stop the exhaust temporarily? Or run a slow leaked amount into the intake? How do I get a 1000+ ppm in a non sealed room? If I do seal it, how do I control odor and temperature? I planned on supplying C02 through tanks on a timer. Any thoughts or ideas?

Also during the veg cycle, how much C02 is needed vs flowering? And with a perpetual harvest shouldn't I be careful of the C02 levels at the end of a plants life?

So many questions.

 

[intotheunknown]

Youre going to have to seal them room to get 1000-1500ppm, temperature- air conditioner and or air cooled hoods intake air from/to outside of room. . Odor control by circulating the air inside of the grow space through a scrubber.

heres a co2 calculator. 1500ppm is ideal.

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp

 

[Fatboyjay]

So, I can scrub the air by using an inline fan blowing through a charcoal filter?

 

[intotheunknown]

I would pull through the scrubber, but yes.

 

[Asslover]

If you're sealed and cooled then why bother exhausting? Smell won't come out unless theirs a leak somewhere...
I put small fans on the floor to help circulate the co2.
Running co2 without a regulator & controller is a complete waste as you will never know the co2 levels and likely waste much of it.
I run perpetual and my controller stays set at 1100 ppm. After dialing in plant health and room temps co2 gave me a Hugh increase in yield. I too cool my rooms with mini splits...
Don't forget a dehumidifier, you'll need it for when the lights are off. No heat from lamps means the AC doesn't run much, which will cause humidity to spike.

 

[Fatboyjay]

After looking at it I'd be better off not sealing the room just due to the added expenses and oversight. I'll have plenty of C02 coming from the water heater and central air heater. Maybe after a few harvest have gone by I'll asses if the added expense is worth it. A mini split to cool that area with those lights is $2k plus installation and I don't own the home so it's a lot to consider.

 

[intotheunknown]

Just run a constant air exchange setup. There isnt much co2 in air, so the more air being exchanged the better. Thats if you decide not to seal it.

 

[Fatboyjay]

Just run a constant air exchange setup. There isnt much co2 in air, so the more air being exchanged the better. Thats if you decide not to seal it.

That was my plan at first. I want to bring in fresh air through a hepa filter (since I'll be in a basement) and draw air out through a carbon filter. That plus oscillating fans to keep everything moving at the top of my canopy. I'm (planning on) keeping my plants short for a sog method grow. Basically I'll clone my strain and once I get a good root structure it's right to flowering. I want single cola stalks and hope to yield 1-2 oz a plant. How much will C02 play a part in that?

 

[intotheunknown]

I would use this formula...

Passive (filtered) intake>>>>into grow space>>>scrubber>>>>hood(s)>>>>blower>>>>exhaust outside. using negative pressure. so pulling in other words.
osc. fans.

depending on your ambient temperatures inside that basement, you may need to cool the incoming air, thats where your a/c unit will come into play, if need be.

another suggestion I have is to get that blower on a speed controller, much easier to dial things in. air flow and even temps.

I've pulled 4 zips per plant, doing single cola plants flowered at about 12" tall. NO co2.

 

[Fatboyjay]

Wow!! 4!! I'm figuring in a 4x6 area I can get at least 24 plants if not more. I figured I'd experiment with plant spacing as I get into it. I'd love to become a clone/sog master.

 

[Jbomber79]

lol asses!

asses-To make an ass of oneself

just poking fun thanks for sharing your new room ideas!

After looking at it I'd be better off not sealing the room just due to the added expenses and oversight. I'll have plenty of C02 coming from the water heater and central air heater. Maybe after a few harvest have gone by I'll asses if the added expense is worth it. A mini split to cool that area with those lights is $2k plus installation and I don't own the home so it's a lot to consider.

 

[Fatboyjay]

Lol. Assess I meant. If you follow my post you'll see plenty of those types of mistakes.

As far as the totality of my room idea is basically a mother/clone room with a work bench for mixing nutes and storing h20 res. I'll probably tent off the mothers and clones and use fluorescent lights. I'm gonna use a two week schedule to add clones per light so I have a perpetual harvest. I'll probably try a few strains but I won't mix strains per cycle so I have an even "sea of green".

Mind you I'm a complete nube but I've read and I'm on here so hopefully I have as much info so I do this right.

 

[Rollout]

It's a waste to run CO2 in an unsealed room. It doesn't have to be completely sealed though, you just have to seal off the lights from the room, but you don't have to go crazy and find every little air leak in the room.

Also if you are new, I wouldn't recommend growing multiple strains, except to find one that you like the most. After that you should stick to a single strain for a few runs in order to master that strain and learn how to really create optimal plants. That's what I wish I would have done when I started.

 

[drgr33nuk]

I've run CO2 with a NDIR CO2 sensor to monitor levels. Without sealing the room and telling the computer to run the fans @ 20% and only go above 40% if there is excessive heat.

I used 5litres of bottled CO2 in around 1 1/2 days and turned it off

 

[Fatboyjay]

I just talked to a friend who said he ran his fans 15 minutes an hour and c02 the other 45 minutes on a controller. He also said he tapered off c02 use the last two weeks along with nutes. He said they won't ripen properly c02 running. This presents a new problem for me because I want to do a perpetual harvest. I've decided to leave the idea behind me and focus on getting all of the other factors inline.

 

[Asslover]

I just talked to a friend who said he ran his fans 15 minutes an hour and c02 the other 45 minutes on a controller. He also said he tapered off c02 use the last two weeks along with nutes. He said they won't ripen properly c02 running. This presents a new problem for me because I want to do a perpetual harvest. I've decided to leave the idea behind me and focus on getting all of the other factors inline.

Your "friend" has no idea what he's talking about. I've been running perpetual for YEARS in a sealed & co2'd room and the flowering ripen properly evry sing time. No issues, period.
Tapering off nutes, yes. I start tapering at the start of the final 2 weeks, by just adding water to whatever mix is left in the rez. By the end of that week theirs nothing but water.
Use 2 rez's as the nutrient ratio/strength will be different for each side...

 

[Treetroit City]

Just one more perpetual sealed and gassed grower here who has no problems with ripening. I run at 900 ppm and have no issues.

 

[acridlab]

^^^ I've always heard to cut off co2 in the final weeks before harvest, also.. one of the reasons I've put it on the back burner for my perpetual..

 

[Picarus]

turn of co2 last two weeks b/c the explosive growth needed to up the yield has already occurred and the co2 is not as effective during the ripening stage, is does not hinder it. In a perpetual model not all plants are in their final two weeks at the same time so you keep the gas on.

 

[Fatboyjay]

I found an article written by Ed Rosenthal

"Plants in brightly lit gardens will experience an increase in growth until the level reaches 1,500-2,000 ppm CO2. However, it is difficult to maintain a level much higher than 1,500 ppm unless the space is sealed against air leaks. Some growers shut off the CO2 during the last two weeks of flowering because the plants aren't growing that much and it may affect THC production at the end of flowering."

He doesn't go into any scientific reasoning for this though. I'd really like to hear a botanist explain what they are referring to.