Co2

[jonny appleseed]

Hi all, I have been reading about Co2 and am thinking to use a small Co2 generator, (the type used in aquariums) in a prop tray to speed up cuttings, i wondered if anyone has any thoughts on the subject?, these little units produce gas for around a month before they need reloading and so would be ideal for most cuttings and obviously anything that can speed up the rooting could save losing cuttings to damping off etc, any advice is appreciated, thank-you, Jonny.

[Andrew Perkins]

Never heard of a CO2 generator for aquariums - have heard of "aquaponics, and cleaning our the aquarium and using the water to water the plants (have done this, the plants love it). Can you elaborate?

[jonny appleseed]

Hello Andrew, I will post a link at the end of this so you can see exactly what I am talking about, the units I mention are a simple device whereby the ingredients to make Co2 are in tablet form and are placed into a small chamber to react, the resulting gas is fed down a tube into the water in an aquarium to nourish living plants and as the plants use the gas they will produce the oxygen the fish etc need to survive as a bi-product. When I wrote this i had been reading up on Co2 for plants and have seen lots of generators (burners) and gas bottled Co2 systems but these are very expensive to set-up ( £200+) and would only be viable if i was growing a cash crop, I believe cannabis farmers use Co2 and can near double the yield with optimum conditions because Cannabis can utilize around 1500ppm instead of the 400ppm of Co2 in the outside air. This all led me to think these small units may be an ideal aid in speeding up cuttings of all garden flowers etc. I hope this has cleared things up for you and thanks for dropping by Jonny. here is the link

[Andrew Perkins]

That sounds interesting. I'm wondering what they're using in the pellets. Vinegar and baking soda create C02, but it's a pretty quick reaction - probably the "stabilizer" pellets slow down the process? Hard to say.
The fish in a "balanced" aquarium give enough C02 to the plants (plus nutrients) to make them grow effectively, but to grow a plant or plants without having to feed/replenish a supply of other creatures would be - less messy, and you wouldn't come home from holiday to dreadful smells if the worst happened.

Thanks for the post!

[jonny appleseed]

You're welcome, I think you are right Andrew, the stabilizer pellet must slow the process down to last 3 or 4 weeks, i would guess it also buffers the PH too? or that could mess up a balanced tank. The tablet itself must be a bi-carb type and a citric/vinegar base activator so it remains quite inexpensive. Thanks again, Jonny