Grow room and indoor greenhouse growers online agree that for optimum plant growth, you should enrich the air around the plants with carbon dioxide (CO2) during the daylight growth cycle. Photosynthesis (plant growth) requires light, nutrients, water and CO2.
If you give your plants the perfect amount of light, water, and nutrients, the limiting factor in their growth will be the amount of CO2 in the air.
While normal outdoor CO2 levels (about 400ppm) will achieve normal plant growth, doubling or tripling the CO2 levels can increase the growth rate. However, above 2,000ppm CO2 becomes toxic to plants, and above 5,000ppm CO2 becomes potentially harmful to people. Most experts agree that 1,500 ppm is the maximum CO2 level for maximum plant growth, although any CO2 level between 1,000ppm and 1,500ppm will produce greatly improved results.
CO2 Controller Setup
CO2 enrichment can easily be accomplished with CO2 controllers and digital tank regulators.
CO2 Calculator
To calculate the amount of CO2 you need, you’ll need to calculate the size of the grow room. For example, if you have a 8x8x7 foot grow room, you would need to cover 448 cubic feet (8x8x7=448). To compute the amount of CO2 required to raise the level to 1,000ppm use this equation:
Width x length x height x desired CO2 level in parts per million.
We can roughly calculate how long the regulator will be turned on with this formula:
CO2 needed in cu.ft. / flow rate per minute
CO2 Calculation Tips
1. Experts disagree about the optimum level of CO2 for plant growth. You can find arguments for 800ppm, 1,000ppm, 1,200ppm and 1,500ppm. We recommend starting at 1,000ppm, then adjusting your CO2 levels over time with experience.CO2 levels below 400ppm and above 1,500ppm will reduce plant growth.
2. Experts do agree that raising CO2 alone will not guarantee plant growth. Proper soil, nutrients, watering, light and cleanliness must be achieved in combination with enhanced CO2 levels for optimum results.
3. A fan inside the grow area pointed at the end of a length of tubing from the regulator will circulate the CO2 in the air for maximum benefit. Otherwise, you can connect the regulator to a length of tubing with pin-holes strung around the top of the grow room so that the CO2 will "drop" on the plants (CO2 is heavier than air).
4. If you are growing indoors, purchase an inexpensive timer to control your day/night light period. Never run CO2 during the dark period.
Here we'd like to introduce the most popular CO2 calculator that may help you.
- Accurate 2-Channel low drift NDIR CO2 measuring
- Programmable CO2 zone value & CO2 center value to control output power on/off
- External CO2 sensor to be used in closed space
- Display real time CO2 value
- Display CO2 chart with variable time zoom levels
- Max. /Min. recall function
- Audible alarm warns CO2 concentration
- Target zone indicator
- Built-in Day/Night auto detection to override CO2 control
- Monitoring & Controlling CO2 value in Green house, residential and commercial building
- CO2 concentration alarms
If you are interested in indoor plants growing, here are some LED grow lights that may also help you.
- Adjustable full spectrum 3 channels dimming way, each channel can be controllable separately.
- UV IR seperately control
- Passive cooling, no noise operation.
- Higher yields and lower cost: ECO Farm ECOZ series delivers powerful light output and uniform canopy penetration to resulting maximum higher yields.
- 'Plug & play' fast installation design makes your grow way easier with lowest maintenance cost and easy installation, specially big saves on shipping.
- Market-leading efficiency to 2.6 µmol/J and 2.5g yield per wattage with 30% higher average PPFD
- Realize large-area harvest with LED lighting: Easy to dimming and heat dissipation, waterproof power supply, aluminum housing, long power supply life, suitable for large rooms and commercial places, make your plants get more energy, and get maximum headroom without burning plants
- Optional touch screen controller, an idea for commercial growing (max 100 lights) &timing and dimmable function.
- All in one design, build-in driver, free assemble, save time and shipping fee
- Low Noise & Low Heat: No fans needed meaning low noise; Ambient heat is very low, so there is no need to worry about burns or damage to your plant
If you have any questions, please contact us and we will respond to you as soon as possible.
Our emails address is: business@ecofarm.ca
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