Something I've wondered about before, being into growing plants and all, and knowing that plants grow at accelerated rates with higher levels of CO2, I've wondered about the best method for creating carbon dioxide for a small greenhouse or enclosure. Anyone have any ideas? I suppose I could look this up on the web, but Sciforums is more fun!
Bacon soda!?!? Count me out!!! Okay. Sodium bicarbonate vs. acetic acid... yes. I'm rusty on chemistry, but I would think that is a fairly easy way. If I was bold, I would try to work out that equation (I don't remember the word for it??)... I wonder about the amount of gas produced by that?
Lime and vinegar? Or just plain lime? As in Citrus aurantifolia? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
i would say a fair amount, i mean i filled huge balloons before with a teaspoon of soda, and a few ml of acid. you get allot more then that for a few dollars at the pharmacy.
Lime as in Lime you buy from the garden shop. Good old fashioned Calcium Carbonate. Just put some on the soil (but keep an eye on the soil pH though, you don't want it getting to high though).
Yeah, I figured it wasn't the edible kind! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Well, okay, calcium carbonate is edible, I guess. If it's pure. Wait, isn't that the same as marble? I know lime is used to prepare soil for certain plants... are you saying that there is a pronounced reaction in the soil? If so, what would that be?
Yes, Marble is what happens when Limestone gets buried a few kilometers under ground. :Shrugs: I seem to recall reading somehwere recently that some farmer use lime to improve productivity by raising ambien CO[sub]2[/sub] levels. It makes sense from the chemistry perspective, because soil does have acidic components that can react with the lime.
hence the suggestion to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get too high, IIRC, that can be corrected with sulfur.
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Of course, amending the soil with raw minerals may have unintended consequences depending on what you're trying to grow there. Well, that's an option. A somewhat time consuming option. But an option nonetheless. I guess that would be a good way to store the CO2. And of course, you could probably purchase some canisters of the gas for cheap.
This thread is making Al Gore angry. All this talk of the dreaded CO2! Oh, my!! And in a positive light, to boot.
Not generally, it's how these things are managed commercially, and with a little research (I'd tell you but it's been far too long) you could probably find the right micture of lime and whatever to provide what you're after and maintain a soil pH. Leave the politics out of it please, this is the science section.
If you charcoal steaks etc, you could do it inside the greenhouse. Save your paper trash and do the same with it. etc. - All this is "free CO2."
Most grow ops use a standard commercial canister of CO2 vented into an enclosure with the cooling fans off, after lights out in 12/12, if they want to bump up yield a tad. The increase is marginal though, so only worth the effort for larger commercial grows. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Cabinet stuff is just fine with ambient CO2, there is more than enough in the atmosphere now, will be even more soon. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! If you want more yield, higher grade genetics is a better first choice.
Well, I suppose the two would cancel each other out in fairly short time. I'm just wondering if all the added calcium and sulfur would be a hindrance to certain plants. I'm sure tomatoes would like the calcium, though. Oooo! Don't get all "trippy" dude! It was just a joke I couldn't resist making.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!