DIY CO2 generator

Hi trex1. Welcome to the site!

You are right that HPS requires more ventilation because of the heat it puts off. I ran a 600 watt HPS in a cool tube and found that room ventilation requirements went WAY down. If designed well enough, CO2 could be used without losing too much to venting.
 
So has anyone ever figured out how much these DIY actually generate for the plants. Im using a similar set up now and upgraded to a co2 mushroom box.

I just dont know how to keep the CO2 high while i have my carbon filter running. My heat is around 76-82 with full spectrum of lights on. Should i maybe not exhaust my tent 24/7. Maybe let it exhaust in timed intervals to keep smelly down. Also if i dont draw in fresh O2 since all my vents are closed should i open with a filter on it?
 
Retired Two said:
One little point about the fermenting process. The reason wine and beer primary fermenters have air locks is to exclude mold, fruit flies and oxygen. When O2 is present in the mash the yeast will produce more MeOH, aka methyl alcohol aka wood alcohol.

If you shake your jug around without opening it first there will be no O2 present and you're just stirring it up with the CO2 in the jug. Try adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar and see if it perks up. If it does that means the yeast hasn't made enough alcohol to poison itself yet and can go a while longer. If it doesn't perk up then the yeast is dead and you need to start over. To make it easier to drink without distilling, freeze the jug solid then invert it over a bowl and let it thaw for a while dripping into a bowl. Once you have a quart from a gallon jug you should have all the alcohol. Bread yeast will make up to 14%, wine yeast 16%, while champagne or distillers yeast can produce up to 22% alcohol before it dies off from alcohol poisoning. I have a 5 gal version perking in my grow room that is about done and I'm going to triple distill and carbon filter that sucker for 95% alcohol for tinctures and a few good piss-ups. I use 11.5 lbs. of sugar, 2 packs of wine yeast and a Tbsp. of yeast energizer and it perks away for 3-4 weeks. The next one I'll measure the amount of CO2 it produces and get a rough estimate of the CO2 ppm in my room with the exhaust fan off.

Oh yeah. Check the pH as it won't perk if it's too low. 5-6.5 seems to work good. Also check out homedistiller(dot)org for lots more info and recipes. :cheertwo:

:peace:
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yeast makes vingegar in the presense of oxygen. The vinegar also helps to make the iron soluable. But with oxygen, sorry, no beer. You get more CO2 if you don't restrict the oxygen, the yeast are much more productive, and they will live longer, but they will be sober yeast.
 
SciFi said:
I'll dig up the numbers and post them back here.
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Hey SciFi, did you ever find those #s? I have been doing this all week, getting consistent bubbles every 3-5 seconds all day everyday. It just doesn't seem like a lot of work to do it and it doesn't seem like a lot of CO2 that you get in return. If it isn't doing 20% improvement(just throwing a #out) I'd rather not bother myself with it. However, it is quite fun shaking the bottles up! I am using two juice jugs feeding one 20oz soda bottle. I'll be posting my Friday pics today.
 
When I see pics of a co2 set up, there is typically a second bottle that the co2 generator is connected to. Your directions don't use a second bottle. Do you know what the second bottle is used for?
 
Wow so many people missing the first step here. Running co2 in a room with constant exhaust is just silly. Your pumping all that co2 wherever your exhaust is pointed, most likely inside your residence. Plants need co2 to assimilate during photosynthesis, they also need a boat load of light and correct temp/Rh before they even begin trying to use anything more than 300ppm. @LEDRF grows some beasts. I'll listen.

mantonio said:
Is very cheap to buy.
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Hardly
 
Retired Two said:
One little point about the fermenting process. The reason wine and beer primary fermenters have air locks is to exclude mold, fruit flies and oxygen. When O2 is present in the mash the yeast will produce more MeOH, aka methyl alcohol aka wood alcohol.

If you shake your jug around without opening it first there will be no O2 present and you're just stirring it up with the CO2 in the jug. Try adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar and see if it perks up. If it does that means the yeast hasn't made enough alcohol to poison itself yet and can go a while longer. If it doesn't perk up then the yeast is dead and you need to start over. To make it easier to drink without distilling, freeze the jug solid then invert it over a bowl and let it thaw for a while dripping into a bowl. Once you have a quart from a gallon jug you should have all the alcohol. Bread yeast will make up to 14%, wine yeast 16%, while champagne or distillers yeast can produce up to 22% alcohol before it dies off from alcohol poisoning. I have a 5 gal version perking in my grow room that is about done and I'm going to triple distill and carbon filter that sucker for 95% alcohol for tinctures and a few good piss-ups. I use 11.5 lbs. of sugar, 2 packs of wine yeast and a Tbsp. of yeast energizer and it perks away for 3-4 weeks. The next one I'll measure the amount of CO2 it produces and get a rough estimate of the CO2 ppm in my room with the exhaust fan off.

Oh yeah. Check the pH as it won't perk if it's too low. 5-6.5 seems to work good. Also check out homedistiller(dot)org for lots more info and recipes. :cheer:

:peace:
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Hey man thanks for the info, my question is, how much yeast/sugar/water for an 18"×36"×6' ft tent with 3 autoflower?
 
ledtester said:
How to make a CO2 generator for your greenhouse/grow room plants

If you have a greenhouse or grow room and have wanted to put in a CO2 system but couldn't afford the expense or had difficulty with how technical one can be to set up and run, have I got the solution for you! Well it is easy for anyone to set up and use this simple CO2 generator for healthy and vibrant plants. As you know plants take in CO2 during the day and expel Oxygen, at night they do the reverse but to a lesser degree. In order for your plants to thrive they need CO2. You could leave the door open for fresh air, but in the winter your plants could freeze and opening the doors invites all sorts of plant eating pests. Making a simple generator to use solves those problems.

Things You'll Need:
empty gallon water bottle or well washed milk jug.
1 Cup Sugar
1 heaping teaspoon of Activated Yeast.
craft iron
airline tubing or other such tubing to direct CO2 to your plants
twist ties to attach tubing to uprights
coat hanger, garden stakes or some other thing to act as a holder for your CO2 curtain
pocket knife or punch to make holes into tubing.
1 "T" connector for your tubing.


Step 1plug in craft iron, when it is hot enough you will use it to burn a hole into the lid of your gallon water bottle. The hole must be just large enough to force the tubing into it. Force end of tubing into the lid from the outside to the inside entering the jug about 1/4 inch.

Step 2Fill water jug 1/3 with lukewarm water then using a funnel add 1 cup of sugar. Shake well to dissolve as much sugar as possible.

Step 3Using 1 cup measure fill about 1/3 full with lukewarm water. Add dry activated yeast and stir till dissolved. Using funnel add this to your water jug then fill to just over 1/2 way with more lukewarm but not hot water. Hot water will kill your yeast.

Step 4place lid onto container which is now your generator. Place generator in your greenhouse or grow room as close to your plants as possible.

Step 5take your coat hanger pieces or wooden stakes and stake 4 around the perimeter of your plants, you can put stakes in planters with the plants. These will be the uprights your airline tubing will attach to.

Step 6Cut enough airline tubing to go completely around your plants and attach both ends of the tubing to the "T". Using plant tape or twist ties you will attach this tubing to the uprights you just made. Use the piece of airline attached to your water bottle lid to attach to the final end of your "T"

Step 7using your pocket knife or tubing punch you will poke some holes into the tubing surrounding your plants on the sides of the tubing that is directly facing the plants.
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Hey man, I have an 18 inch by 36 inch by 6 foot grow tent with 3 plants. It is totally climate controlled minus the co2. I have a 600w roleandro full spectrum light. I am an hvac technician so the temperature and humidity are perfect however I would like to enrich with co2. What do you recommend for the space and plants that I have? Also I am growing in 60% ocean forest and 40% coco. I am a new indoor grower who has been growing outdoors for years any and all help appreciated! Thanks
 
Hi @Ozzie Greenthumb

This is an old thread, and the members you are asking are no longer with us.

You'll get plenty of advice if you post your questions in our FAQ. :cheer:
 
ledtester said:
How to make a CO2 generator for your greenhouse/grow room plants

If you have a greenhouse or grow room and have wanted to put in a CO2 system but couldn't afford the expense or had difficulty with how technical one can be to set up and run, have I got the solution for you! Well it is easy for anyone to set up and use this simple CO2 generator for healthy and vibrant plants. As you know plants take in CO2 during the day and expel Oxygen, at night they do the reverse but to a lesser degree. In order for your plants to thrive they need CO2. You could leave the door open for fresh air, but in the winter your plants could freeze and opening the doors invites all sorts of plant eating pests. Making a simple generator to use solves those problems.

Things You'll Need:
empty gallon water bottle or well washed milk jug.
1 Cup Sugar
1 heaping teaspoon of Activated Yeast.
craft iron
airline tubing or other such tubing to direct CO2 to your plants
twist ties to attach tubing to uprights
coat hanger, garden stakes or some other thing to act as a holder for your CO2 curtain
pocket knife or punch to make holes into tubing.
1 "T" connector for your tubing.


Step 1plug in craft iron, when it is hot enough you will use it to burn a hole into the lid of your gallon water bottle. The hole must be just large enough to force the tubing into it. Force end of tubing into the lid from the outside to the inside entering the jug about 1/4 inch.

Step 2Fill water jug 1/3 with lukewarm water then using a funnel add 1 cup of sugar. Shake well to dissolve as much sugar as possible.

Step 3Using 1 cup measure fill about 1/3 full with lukewarm water. Add dry activated yeast and stir till dissolved. Using funnel add this to your water jug then fill to just over 1/2 way with more lukewarm but not hot water. Hot water will kill your yeast.

Step 4place lid onto container which is now your generator. Place generator in your greenhouse or grow room as close to your plants as possible.

Step 5take your coat hanger pieces or wooden stakes and stake 4 around the perimeter of your plants, you can put stakes in planters with the plants. These will be the uprights your airline tubing will attach to.

Step 6Cut enough airline tubing to go completely around your plants and attach both ends of the tubing to the "T". Using plant tape or twist ties you will attach this tubing to the uprights you just made. Use the piece of airline attached to your water bottle lid to attach to the final end of your "T"

Step 7using your pocket knife or tubing punch you will poke some holes into the tubing surrounding your plants on the sides of the tubing that is directly facing the plants.
Click to expand...
If you add gelatin to your sugar and yeast mix it makes your co2 last almost 3 times as long. So adding 1 tsp of gelatin helps alot!! I've had 1 bottle last 4 weeks by doing this.
 
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