So I was wondering how sealing myself in the grow room would increase the CO2 available to the plant, just by doing simple things throughout the day.... like sit here and type this while sitting in the corner of my closet =) Anyway so I have the basic stuff down. Total size is 184 cubic feet but I'd easily say half of that is taken up by clothes and boxes and other crap. I figured It'd just be easy to go with that number because I don't really know how to estimate if clothes take up air space?... I mean they are air permeable... Anyway so the info: 184 cubic feet of total space. Average human exhales half a liter of air with each breath. 'Average' air is only .03% CO2 while a breath increases that to 4%. Meaning each breath is ~40,000 ppm of CO2. Now... if 1 cubic foot is ~27 liters and I was to take only 10 breaths per minute (10 in 10 out) then how many ppm will the grow space increase if I was to sit in it for 20 minutes? Also about how long would that be available to the plant if I was to leave and theoretically none of it escaped? I know my whole space will take about .3 lbs of CO2 based off some calculator I found, but I don't really know what that means. I also found some random tidbit that each breath is a gram. Any takers?
Don't need to be good at math to know this isn't worth it. Do ya really wanna sit in your closet and breathe on your plants for 12 hours a day? Do you have an air cooled reflector with your lights taking in air from outside your closet, and exhausting outside as well? If not, even your CO2 from breathing is getting sucked right out the vent. Sure CO2 increases yield (also increases flower time a few days) but there aren't really any shortcuts that work with it. In my opinion, a tank, regulator, and controller is the best way to go with your sized area. Don't waste your time with CO2 buckets, or yeasts and such. To see good results with CO2 you need a controller to keep the levels consistent, yet also be able to provide your plants fresh air. It's not cheap but it will pay off if done properly.
Ok sure, I'm high and wouldn't be surprised if I fucked up somewhere, but this is what I come up with: Each breath is a half liter at 40,000PPM of CO2 There are 28 liters in a cubic foot. You'd have to exhale 56 times to get one cubic foot of CO2 at 40,000 PPM We want 1500. 40,000 divided by 1500 equals 26.66 So 26.66 cubic feet at 1500 PPM with 56 exhales. We need 184 cubic feet at 1500PPM, so 184 divided by 26.66 equals 6.9 6.9 muliplied by 56 exhales equals 386 exhales. So at 10 breaths a minute, it'll take about 38 minutes to bring the room up to 1500PPM, assuming airtight conditions, and also assuming the plants aren't absorbing CO2 (which of course they are, and no way to tell how much without a CO2 monitor) I believe the plants need fresh air as well though. With CO2 generators they recommend to buy the size that will fill your room in under five minutes, so that you can still vent every hour or two with fresh air. Good luck