C02 and your weed

Im really sorry if this has been posted 1,000,000 times before, but i have seriously done like 5 different searches using key words such as c02, co2, carbon dioxide, carbon, etc. and have turned up shit on this site. i really want to use c02 to supplement my garden, and have found many generators for less then 300 dollars that create anywhere from 3-10 Cubic feet per hour, but im unsure of how and when to go about it. Is it supposed to be used with the lights on or off? can it be used in vegatative as well as flowering? iv heard that its pretty useless in veg, but only from one source, so any other input is appritiated. i know alot of people in here have crazy amounts of ventilation running through there rooms, with the air exchanging atleast once every 5 minutes, and ideally 5 times every minute or more, so obviously running co2 in this environment will not fly. im using an AC to cool my growroom, so i dont have nearly as much ventilation going on, however, i still have enough with lights on that i think the co2 would be swept out pretty quickly. when my lights are off though, no ventilation what-so-ever is going on, so would it be benificial to have a timer set up to a co2 gen so that it was on only during my dark cycle?? thanks.

I use a closed system so only fresh air is being exchanged between CO2 injections. You do not use it while the lights are off, that would be a big waste of gas. The key is to keep the gas around the plants, so 1 min before my tank goes off so does my external ventilation, meaning I use a fan within the garden at all times but only exchange the air between co2 injections. The CO2 will really increase your growth rate, I stop using it when I'm about 2 weeks from harvest.

Hope this helps.

hmm. interesting. why is it a waste to use when the lights are off? and how do you accomplish a closed system? what type of lights are you using and how many watts, and how do you cool said lights?

What's Up????? I read that CO2 is useless in the lights off phase because the plants only use it or absorb it during lights on. I don't use a big phancy CO2 machine, I just mix sugar yeast and warm water in a 2 litre bottle. It works GREAT for veg, but I have just got my first female... So I cant say too much about flowering. All I have for exhaust is a 12'' fan and I turn it off when I "deploy" my CO2. you might try using a capitol C in your CO2 search...

Secret Grower said:

I use a closed system so only fresh air is being exchanged between CO2 injections. You do not use it while the lights are off, that would be a big waste of gas. The key is to keep the gas around the plants, so 1 min before my tank goes off so does my external ventilation, meaning I use a fan within the garden at all times but only exchange the air between co2 injections. The CO2 will really increase your growth rate, I stop using it when I'm about 2 weeks from harvest.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

How much does it increase growth rates? I've read that it only cuts off about 3 days from an entire grow. So if that is true then for a small grower like myself that's not really worth it but for a commercial grower it adds up to more harvests which mean more money.

As far as increased growth rates, depends on how hot your room is. If you are pushing the upper 80's then CO2 will let your plants keep growing instead of putting energy into sweating. My area is 2.5' deep by 3.5' wide and 58" tall, I use 2 air cooled 400 W HPS 2 fans on the box and one inside. The ventilation fans shut off just before the CO2 tank runs a cycle and doesn't come back on for 1/2 hour after. The internal fan and light fans are always running.

Can't grow wrong with CO2!