Growing Plants and CO2: How and Why to Use It?

The abbreviation CO2 probably still reminds us of chemistry class. There are optimal growing conditions. And there are also optimal conditions enriched with carbon dioxide. Did you know that by supplementing it into the growing space, for example a growbox, you can easily increase yields by up to 20%?

It is proven that carbon dioxide is clearly beneficial for plants. And not just a little. With a bit of exaggeration we can say that for plants it is like an "energy drink". CO2 therefore supports plant growth and ripening.

During the day plants need plenty of carbon dioxide and at night they need oxygen. There is enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to support plants grown in outdoor conditions. Even so, through their roots and leaves plants can absorb much more and make full use of it for their benefit and, of course, the grower's benefit as well.

A lack of CO2 is most noticeable in indoor gardening. In the vast majority of cases the cause is insufficient ventilation or poor air circulation. On plants, low CO2 concentration in the air most often manifests as slow growth, sometimes by 30 or 40%.

Remember one basic rule when intentionally adding carbon dioxide to the air: the more light plants receive, the more CO2 they need. This is doubly true for intensive cultivation under artificial lighting. It follows that at low carbon dioxide concentration the efficiency of your lamps is unnecessarily reduced, whether you use high-intensity discharge lamps or modern LED diodes.

Enriching the air of the growbox with CO2 ultimately also ensures better utilization of fertilizer.

You can expect the desired harvest much earlier — possibly up to two weeks sooner compared to a cultivation cycle without CO2 supplementation.

If you raise the carbon dioxide concentration in your home growing room to at least around 500 pmm, growth can accelerate by up to 15%. Often it can be as much as 20%. The upper limit is represented by 1000 pmm. There we can expect growth to speed up by almost half. However, this threshold should not be exceeded. A proper grower must not be insatiable when saturating the air with carbon dioxide.

Now you know why we can unequivocally recommend adding carbon dioxide to every indoor grower, regardless of experience. Therefore it's the right moment to introduce practical and affordable products that will ensure CO2 saturation of the air in your growing room. The products in question are available in the form of practical tablets or in a cheaper variant represented by hanging sachets for the grow tent.

The popular GURU CO2 tablets excel in gradual release.

Safety

Do not forget that when handling any products for adding CO2 to a growing box, increased caution and responsibility are required, because carbon dioxide itself is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that normally occurs in the air at usual concentrations. Although it is not directly poisonous to humans, that does not change the fact that it is not breathable. Before entering a growing space where devices for enriching the air with carbon dioxide are used, it is necessary to ventilate thoroughly!

Do you cultivate plants indoors? Whether in soil, coco or hydroponically, you now know that a few tablets or a sachet with carbon dioxide can make your efforts yield significantly more. For more information or help selecting specific products, feel free to contact us. Call or write to info@higarden.cz.

- CO2 products