Fresh air vs. no fresh air.

[Xephier]

I spoke to my hydro guy and did some research online that all suggests that the plants need a constant cycling of fresh air but when I mentioned this to my buddy(whom is really experienced in this stuff and has advisor's that have been growing for decades) he insists that the idea is stupid because plants don't use air they use carbon dioxide and he says there is no use for cycling the air and that it would be nothing more than a waste of ducting.

I would just like to dig a little deeper on this issue and see what the general consensus is.

 

[vostok]

You are correct living things cept your friend require fresh air, plants use the C02 of fresh air to breathe, then out gas 02, note your friend is typical of poorly trained old school that making life difficult for the noobs of this world, give them lots of air, also good for removing excess humidity and heat too!

 

[a senile fungus]

He's probably gonna try to convince you to run a sealed room next.

Watch those guys!

 

[Nor-Cal Cuttings]

He's probably gonna try to convince you to run a sealed room next.

Watch those guys!

Yea i agree lots of fresh air is key if you are co2 bombing jus turn of your cooling fan a while just not while the lights on of course do it in the night time cycle but yea lots of fresh air and a fan to blow air around in the room is important to

 

[Xephier]

Ok, one more question/concern then. I live in Toronto, it's still chilly during nights and I've been told that I need to keep the temp between 75-80F. The warmest that it even gets in this next week is 55F. If I cycle air from outside (especially during the night without the light on) then the temp in the grow area may drop as low as 30F(perhaps colder if wind chill is counted at all).

 

[Mad_Prophessor]

I spoke to my hydro guy and did some research online that all suggests that the plants need a constant cycling of fresh air but when I mentioned this to my buddy(whom is really experienced in this stuff and has advisor's that have been growing for decades) he insists that the idea is stupid because plants don't use air they use carbon dioxide and he says there is no use for cycling the air and that it would be nothing more than a waste of ducting.

I would just like to dig a little deeper on this issue and see what the general consensus is.

Co2 or no Co2? If they eat it, do you think you should give it to the? Don't listen to you friend, he doesn't know what he is talking about and thinks he is more experienced than he really is.

 

[Mad_Prophessor]

Ok, one more question/concern then. I live in Toronto, it's still chilly during nights and I've been told that I need to keep the temp between 75-80F. The warmest that it even gets in this next week is 55F. If I cycle air from outside (especially during the night without the light on) then the temp in the grow area may drop as low as 30F(perhaps colder if wind chill is counted at all).

ALWAYS run your lights at night. During the Winter, it will keep them from getting too cold and in the Summer it will help you keep your temps down without an A/C unit.

Don't let them go below 60f is the big thing. Down to 55 will probably kill them and not a good idea.

 

[Xephier]

Co2 or no Co2? If they eat it, do you think you should give it to the? Don't listen to you friend, he doesn't know what he is talking about and thinks he is more experienced than he really is.

Well to be fair he did state that we breath out C02 and because I have my settup in my room that technically I should be giving it enough C02 just from what I breathe out in a day. So his argument has a little more logic than what you pointed out there but the general opinion seems to be to give them fresh air.

One more point, from what my friend says he never cycled fresh air for his plants and he still managed some success with them. So it is apparent that not cycling the air will still achieve growth but if I get it right from what I'm hearing, cycling the air improves growth?

 

[Xephier]

ALWAYS run your lights at night. During the Winter, it will keep them from getting too cold and in the Summer it will help you keep your temps down without an A/C unit.

Don't let them go below 60f is the big thing. Down to 55 will probably kill them and not a good idea.

I was going to run them during the day to reduce the chances of "light leaks" but what you're saying sounds pretty sensible, I'll just have to make extra sure that the area is sealed off well. But then that does again raise the concern of fresh air circulation. What if the high for the day is below 60F?

 

[chuck estevez]

 

[Mad_Prophessor]

Well to be fair he did state that we breath out C02 and because I have my settup in my room that technically I should be giving it enough C02 just from what I breathe out in a day. So his argument has a little more logic than what you pointed out there but the general opinion seems to be to give them fresh air.

I have a sweet Sentinel setup and can monitor everything closely and accurately. I can see the CO2 rise when I am in there, especially when I am talking to them, but as soon as I leave it goes back down. There wont be any large buildup if that is what you mean. Basically, your breathe, unless the room is tiny and you hyper-ventilate, will amount to a fart in the wind.

 

[Mad_Prophessor]

I was going to run them during the day to reduce the chances of "light leaks" but what you're saying sounds pretty sensible, I'll just have to make extra sure that the area is sealed off well. But then that does again raise the concern of fresh air circulation. What if the high for the day is below 60F?

Ambient temp will keep it warm enough. At -15f you might have problems.

 

[Red1966]

Well to be fair he did state that we breath out C02 and because I have my settup in my room that technically I should be giving it enough C02 just from what I breathe out in a day. So his argument has a little more logic than what you pointed out there but the general opinion seems to be to give them fresh air.

One more point, from what my friend says he never cycled fresh air for his plants and he still managed some success with them. So it is apparent that not cycling the air will still achieve growth but if I get it right from what I'm hearing, cycling the air improves growth?

If you're in the room, or even a mid sized pet, you will give off plenty of co2. The air in my house (1200 sqft) runs 700 PPM with me and my dog in it. But I still suplement co2 in the grow tent.

 

[ISK]

IMHO...fresh air ventilation with good circulation is as critical as your water quality and light source.

 

[Will Ferrell]

Yea i agree lots of fresh air is key if you are co2 bombing jus turn of your cooling fan a while just not while the lights on of course do it in the night time cycle but yea lots of fresh air and a fan to blow air around in the room is important to

giving co2 with the lights out? i thought that was pointless.

 

[Nor-Cal Cuttings]

giving co2 with the lights out? i thought that was pointless.

Plants are goin to use it regardless and use it with a powerful cooling fan runing is a waste its geting sucked out befor it can do jack jus my opinion but for the price peoe pay for co2 tank and shit why waste it i could see if you were jus dicking around with dry ice or some viniger and baking soda but for the person going the extra mile why pump out wat your paying for?

 

[vostok]

The only real advantage of using C02 is they do grow a lot quicker(20-30%) but its only cause you can then grow in a really hot room,
with C02 you can expect to see exponential growth at around 29-35C 84-98F air temp the root mass itself is always a bit cooler

 

[Mad_Prophessor]

Plants are goin to use it regardless and use it with a powerful cooling fan runing is a waste its geting sucked out befor it can do jack jus my opinion but for the price peoe pay for co2 tank and shit why waste it i could see if you were jus dicking around with dry ice or some viniger and baking soda but for the person going the extra mile why pump out wat your paying for?

There are a lot of controllers that have fuzzy logic for use with CO2. For example I use the Sentinel CHHC-4. It has fuzzy logic and bridgeable function (RH and Temp can be utilized by one fan). The fuzzy logic basically makes it lie to itself within your chosen outlined perimeters so that it DOESN'T waste your CO2. Yes, it is very possible to suck it all out and waste it with a vent fan, but if you are gonna go through the expense of setting up a CO2 system, I would expect that there is a viable controlled to accompany it.

 

[SPLFreak808]

The only way that would work is to sleep in that sealed room every night without death by asphyxia. Even if he figures it out, i bet the plants will still need clean, non-contaminated, fresh co2 just to keep mold and rot to a minimum.

 

[_MrBelvedere_]

Ok, one more question/concern then. I live in Toronto, it's still chilly during nights and I've been told that I need to keep the temp between 75-80F. The warmest that it even gets in this next week is 55F. If I cycle air from outside (especially during the night without the light on) then the temp in the grow area may drop as low as 30F(perhaps colder if wind chill is counted at all).

What exact plant problems are you having? No need to fix something that is not broken. It is really simple you just want your plants to always be 70-80 degrees and have sufficient co2.