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Mycostotle
Stranger

Registered: 11/11/19
Posts: 36
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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High CO2 in monotub
#26715959 - 06/03/20 07:05 AM (3 years, 8 months ago) |
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RecentlyI acquired a co2 meter and I have been measuring co2 levels in my monotub. The monotub is in fruiting now and the co2 levels are very high, over 9000 ppm.
With fanning I can drop the levels to about 1500 but in an hour co2 will be at over 9000 ppm again. I started measuring co2 because of very low yields.
What are optimal co2 levels for fruiting?
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ModularMind
M.P.F.



Registered: 02/09/10
Posts: 7,902
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I don’t know
I’d be curious to know
I’ll wait for knowledge
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Apples in Mono
Not a puppet


Registered: 09/21/17
Posts: 3,240
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Re: High CO2 in monotub [Re: Mycostotle] 1
#26716064 - 06/03/20 08:00 AM (3 years, 8 months ago) |
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I wouldn't bother paying any attention to co2 readings. Just watch the surface of the substrate and make sure there's enough air exchange to promote evaporation without drying it out. Once you find the rate of surface evaporation you're looking for, you won't have to do anything except perhaps minimal misting
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,890
Loc: Milky way
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No one here is going to have that number because everyone here has grown a lot of fruits really well from monotubs without needing gauges. I wouldn't worry about monitoring co2 until you have growing skills down to a science.
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Bsdgaou

Registered: 02/20/19
Posts: 340
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Where did you buy CO2 meter?
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polomasta
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Registered: 08/16/20
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came here to ask this also...
During these crazy times I've been picking up new hobbies right and left... mushroom cultivation being one and home automation / IOT being another... and of course, I had to combine them as well. I've thrown some sensors into my grow tent I'm using as a fruiting chamber.
Definitely curious what kind of CO2 levels are optimal in a fruiting chamber.
Right now I'm turning on a fan whenever it exceeds 1000ppm and turning it off when it drops < 500ppm
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Pastywhyte
Say hello to my little friend



Registered: 09/15/12
Posts: 37,810
Loc: Canada
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Re: High CO2 in monotub [Re: polomasta]
#26883568 - 08/16/20 02:33 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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With fanning you can drop it to 1500 ppm? As in that’s the CO2 level in the room you’re growing in?
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homegrownbrews
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Registered: 11/04/12
Posts: 16
Loc: Northern Cali
Last seen: 6 months, 5 days
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trying to find answers to this very question myself. I've been doing this hobby successfully for over a decade in small grows... covid comes and here we are...
I have a situation where I have a large amount of monos in a temp controlled fruiting room that is basically one wall with shelving 4 rows of 8. I have fresh air coming from outside via an inline duct fan to a duct that runs the length of the room in the top corner above the totes blowing down the wall. I have my cold air blown in through a 5in circular duct jerry rigged to my ac outside the room that blows through from outside on a temp controller. all air is indirect so not directly blowing on tubs. the door way is a plastic zipper door that fully seals. the room is 4ft wide by 6ft 6in tall by 12ft long. I have a 5x5 in hole cut in the wall to the outside with 10 layers of mesh over it to serve as an exhaust. so it's a positive pressure room... lights on 12/12 and 69 degrees. I use 66qt purple handle non gasketed sterlites in a classic 6 hole monotub setup with micropore tape. my problem is I'm getting super short fruits... basically zero surface evap and high contam rates.
I then was told my tubs are suffocating and to check the co2 ppm inside the room and inside the tubs over a day and see the fluctuations and to asjust fae as needed. when I checked my room levels were dangerously high all the time 3000+ outside the tub in the room and 5k inside no change unless I ran a fan.
so then i added the fae system and moved my ac outside the room and piped it through the wall on a temp controller. the room now never gets above 450 ppm, but with tape on my tubs, I can have the ac blowing in and also have the fae fan on high and it never affects the ppm in the tub.. it's always 3500 to 5000 which is the max for my ppm detector. the only way to reduce the ppm is to physically fan it or to completely remove the micropore tape on the top holes. but now my rh inside the tubs drops to like 60...
In this struggle to dial in my room I've tried a bunch of things...like a literal shit ton of things... any advice as to wth I'm not seeing? is co2 a variable I need to factor this much for?
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UTfunguy
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Registered: 09/06/21
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Last seen: 3 months, 3 days
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Quote:
homegrownbrews said: trying to find answers to this very question myself. I've been doing this hobby successfully for over a decade in small grows... covid comes and here we are...
I have a situation where I have a large amount of monos in a temp controlled fruiting room that is basically one wall with shelving 4 rows of 8. I have fresh air coming from outside via an inline duct fan to a duct that runs the length of the room in the top corner above the totes blowing down the wall. I have my cold air blown in through a 5in circular duct jerry rigged to my ac outside the room that blows through from outside on a temp controller. all air is indirect so not directly blowing on tubs. the door way is a plastic zipper door that fully seals. the room is 4ft wide by 6ft 6in tall by 12ft long. I have a 5x5 in hole cut in the wall to the outside with 10 layers of mesh over it to serve as an exhaust. so it's a positive pressure room... lights on 12/12 and 69 degrees. I use 66qt purple handle non gasketed sterlites in a classic 6 hole monotub setup with micropore tape. my problem is I'm getting super short fruits... basically zero surface evap and high contam rates.
I then was told my tubs are suffocating and to check the co2 ppm inside the room and inside the tubs over a day and see the fluctuations and to asjust fae as needed. when I checked my room levels were dangerously high all the time 3000+ outside the tub in the room and 5k inside no change unless I ran a fan.
so then i added the fae system and moved my ac outside the room and piped it through the wall on a temp controller. the room now never gets above 450 ppm, but with tape on my tubs, I can have the ac blowing in and also have the fae fan on high and it never affects the ppm in the tub.. it's always 3500 to 5000 which is the max for my ppm detector. the only way to reduce the ppm is to physically fan it or to completely remove the micropore tape on the top holes. but now my rh inside the tubs drops to like 60...
In this struggle to dial in my room I've tried a bunch of things...like a literal shit ton of things... any advice as to wth I'm not seeing? is co2 a variable I need to factor this much for?
Did you ever find a solution to your high CO2 levels? I've noticed that my tubs naturally sit around 4800ppm. I can fan them to 1000ppm or less but they will return to over 4000ppm within an hour or so. I've also pumped filtered air from an aquarium pump for awhile. This resulted in getting the CO2 levels down to 2900ppm.
I'm doing more research on this as well. I've read that "a constant fresh air supply to remove metabolic gases, and CO2 at levels less than 1000 ppm" will promote primordia formation (pinning). But, if you add too much air, your RH will likely drop below acceptable levels.
Also, "if carbon dioxide levels remain high, the mycelium will totally cover the casing surface, a condition called overlay." I've had this happen as well. Pinning will eventually occur, and I eventually get growth, but it's not nearly as dense of a growth as I've seen others portray.
We can all agree that monotubs, when implemented properly, produce amazing flushes and results by just leaving them alone. But, when data is presented about the importance of lowered CO2 levels, less than 1000ppm during fruiting, it would seem logical to try to achieve lower CO2 levels in the tub to maximize yield and healthy growth.
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homegrownbrews
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Registered: 11/04/12
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Last seen: 6 months, 5 days
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Re: High CO2 in monotub [Re: UTfunguy] 1
#27953051 - 09/16/22 03:43 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I'm still searching for an answer... I'm also trying to modify my fruiting chamber so that i can air out the tubs without having to individually hand fan each mono... I'm rocking like 40 at a time. i use classic 6 hole monos, that I've been experimenting on filter mediums for the holes... ive done poly, micropore tape and even made custom felt patch magnetic covers... i have high co2 in all of them. the set up I run is i framed off ava super insulated a 5'x12' section of my garage for a fruiting chamber. i cut a hole in the wall for outside air that gets piped in with an inline duct fan. the air duct runs the length of the room blowing down from the ceiling in the corner. I have shelving against one wall that I have all my monos on. 4 shelves, 10 tubs to a shelf all in a row. I have a standard door that I have sealed off with a heavy plastic zipper entry . I have 6500k fluorescent lights on the ceiling and the room is temp controlled by an 18000 btu, 2 duct (for outside air) portable ac unit that is outside the room ducted into the fruiting chamber connected to a temperature controller keeping it about 70 degrees fluctuating 2 degrees max. my yields are ok but not great. my pinset will look amazing but then 60 percent abort and just freeze tiny, and the other ones just get mid. i normally get 3 flushes before i start seeing contam, but in the new room im seeing it much earlier and am lucky to see a 3rd flush. i think it's all connected to how high the co2 is in the tubs! i know bacteria and nasties prefer anaerobic environments... high co2 and high humidity is just that... ive noticed that after i open the lid and hand fan for about 15 to 20 seconds the levels in the tub go from over 5000ppm my limit on this particular co2 censor to below 1000. but the second i put the lid back on... the levels climb very quickly again... up above 5k in less than an hour?! i can't fan them this much! looking for a solution!
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milkboy
Child



Registered: 05/01/21
Posts: 2,314
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Your issue is not having clean spawn not high co2
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cooleko
Augmentum provocatus

Registered: 08/15/22
Posts: 1,010
Loc: Seattle
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Re: High CO2 in monotub [Re: milkboy]
#27953490 - 09/16/22 07:31 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I use a CO2 meter and my grows sit around 700ppm with adequate airflow. The more fruit the harder it is to keep low and can jump into the 1300-1800 range very quick. I haven't used the sensor with a full canopy yet but I'm only a week or so out from having one to test with so that is coming soon.
I'd like to get it into an unmodified monotub to have that data point but I don't really have any desire to grow in one in my current situation.
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homegrownbrews
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Re: High CO2 in monotub [Re: milkboy]
#27954359 - 09/17/22 10:41 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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thanks for the input🤦 I've been doing this for years, I know if a plate, a jar, or a bag has contaminated. I know during colonization which tubs are suspicious...so just saying i have dirty spawn is a waste of a response. I'm talking specifically about co2 levels... which if u read anything on commercial production, is a big issue. I understand, and have for many years, grown on a smaller, hobbyist scale where u don't necessarily need a co2 meter. but when you're maximizing square footage, and putting a ton of tubs in an enclosed area...fae and co2 levels become critical.
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bakedbeings
orbiter of truth


Registered: 09/01/20
Posts: 4,218
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Quote:
i can't fan them this much! looking for a solution!
well you have mechanical ventilation in the room, if im understanding correctly the issue is co2 in the tubs themselves, so it seems like the obvious answer is to open up more holes, or anything to that effect. what fanning does passive FAE does better
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cooleko
Augmentum provocatus

Registered: 08/15/22
Posts: 1,010
Loc: Seattle
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So I put together a unmodded monotub, dropped in a pinning tray from my tent and dialed it in over a few days until I was happy with my surface conditions. Dropped the sensor in and it immediately jumped over 5k. I'll observe the pins as they continue to mature but I'm expecting that high CO2 isn't as big a concern for cubes.
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