Carbon Dioxide doesn’t receive a lot of good press these days, but for
those of you looking to increase your growth rate and yield CO2 is your
friend. The average air we breathe is about 300-400ppm and proper
ventilation can maintain these levels in your gardening area. But increase
this level to 800-1600ppm and you can increase your growth rate by as
much as 40%.
There are several different methods used to increase the CO2 in your
greenhouse or grow area. As we are heading into colder weather, and
many LED gardeners will need to supplement heat to their environment, a
great way to get this added CO2 is the burning of hydrocarbon fuels such as
propane. This is a fairly inexpensive way to kill two birds with one stone. As
the CO2 is introduced to the grow area it needs to be thoroughly mixed
using a circulation fan- but if your prerequisites of proper light, moisture,
humidity, temperature, and nutrition are satisfied, you should be able to see
results within days or even hours.
When considering supplementing CO2 take into consideration the size
of your area. A small grow room can actually be augmented by just
spending more time breathing next to your plants- the most economical
method by far. With the exception of this method,remember that the
concentration needs to be monitored to insure safe levels. High
concentrations of CO2 can cause dizziness and even unconsciousness in
humans. This noted, get ready to fill up the propane and watch them grow. -
AL