Carbon dioxide (CO2) is fundamental to facilitate the growth of plants, and it is particularly relevant to the course of photosynthesis, as plants use CO2 to turn light into energy to grow. Without CO2, plants would die. Luckily, there is almost always CO2 floating in the air.

Providing more carbon dioxide in your grow room offers benefits to plants in ways that improves plant health and development.

Plants nurtured with the effects of CO2 typically produce stronger and more vibrant qualities. These qualities are often characterized by stronger roots, bigger dark green leaves, and considerably more fruits and flowers when compared with plants with insufficient carbon dioxide.

Adding carbon dioxide to your plants is proven to increase yields, but due to the high cost of implementing these systems, it is not a necessary practice.

How to Produce Surplus CO2 for in House Growing

There are multiple ways to produce surplus CO2, however, there are only two techniques that offer considerable levels of convenience and efficiency.

These techniques are CO2 tanks, and CO2 generators. They are the most effective and advisable techniques to increasing CO2.

Before you start with injecting CO2 into your growing space, you need to make sure that your space is completely sealed so that outside air can’t get in and disturb the CO2.

However, you still need to vent out heat produced by grow lights. To ensure that you don’t accidentally vent out CO2, you can separate air from CO2 in your grow space by setting up cool tubes or hooded reflectors.

Grow light in a cool tube (Source)

Using CO2 Tanks

CO2 Tank (Source)

This approach to producing surplus carbon dioxide involves filling CO2 tanks with saturated CO2. The use of CO2 tanks in carbon dioxide augmentation is simple, effective, and is a preferred starting option.

For convenience, the CO2 tanks should be located outside the growing space, and should be connected to the growing tent through a pump that feeds into the growing area.

It is important that the pump is elevated above the plant. Carbon dioxide is a bit thicker than oxygen, and it will sink to the bottom of your growing area. As such, it should be placed in a position where the CO2 can rain down on the leaves.

Absorption of CO2 is done by the stomata of plant leaves.

(Source)

Additionally, one of the biggest advantages of CO2 tanks is the fact that it can regulate the amount of CO2 emitted into the grow house for maximum results.

Regulation is done through the use of a pressure controller. These controllers are structured to release the required amount of CO2 in the grow area automatically.

While the advantages of CO2 tank outweigh the disadvantages, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the disadvantages.

Some problems with the tank system is that it can get expensive, and there is always the possibility of tanks exploding when exposed to an open flame.

Also, it is imperative to take note of the fact that the air produced by CO2 can be harmful to people and must not be inhaled, as it could cause respiratory and health issues. A good precautionary measure is to shut down tanks before focusing on other activities in the grow room, and to keep a close eye on the PPM.

Using CO2 Generators

A CO2 generator is the second effective option to producing adequate CO2 for indoor growing, and it operates by burning propane or gas. Just like CO2 tanks, the CO2 generator is expensive, with an inside burning system that is sealed.

It's important to monitor temperature when using a CO2 generator in a small indoor growing facility because it increases moisture quickly in comparison to a roomy indoor facility.

Other techniques to produce carbon dioxide would encompass dry ice, compost bags, fermentation, and CO2 bags. The problem with these techniques is that while these alternatives are very affordable, they are crude, create small amounts of CO2, and display poor results.

Nowadays, more and more growers choose to cultivate their favourite strains indoors (for example super silver haze), and they are well acquainted with all the requirements for a bountiful yield. However, many of these people are still missing the value of increased productivity that CO2 offers.

CO2 tank technique and generators offer an exciting avenue for growers to enjoy the staggering, proven benefits of carbon dioxide on plant growth.

While these techniques may be expensive to set up, growers can expect to realize quick returns on investment.