Has anyone ever used a Mosquito Magnet for CO2 enrichment? They use a catalyst to turn propane into co2. I have tried finding out how much output one has but have not been able to find much. I had to order a new power cord for my MM as I got it at a yard sale and didnt come with one. Once it gets here I am going to put it in my room and just periodically check the CO2 levels. Just wondering if anyone here has any experince or insight. Thanks.
That's a good idea. I've got 2 mosquito magnets and usually only have 1 fired up in the summer. I keep the other one in reserve as a backup. I'd be very interested in knowing if this works. I only grow outdoors but in another year when my last kid turns 18 and is outta here, I'm gonna try some indoor growing.
Yeah I was online checking things out thinking how expensive a proper CO2 set up is when I realized my MM are basically just CO2 Generators. I am going to take out the mosquito attractant and just give it a try. New power cord is supposed to be here by Monday. I also ordered a Couple of the Syringe Style CO2 checkers. I will post my results.
Cool. I look forward to seeing your results. Too bad the company that makes mosquito magnets doesn't go public. If this works, it'll open a whole new market for the MM.
So I was pleased to find when I arrived home from work that my mm powercord was here already. Unfortunatly the CO2 test meters wont be here for a couple more days. I wanted to get a baseline before I stuck it in there. I have a sealed room with a ventilation fan that exchanges my room air in less than 1 minute, bringing in outside air on a 2hr off half hour on sched so I am guessing if I keep my fan on less any reading I get that is a fair bit higher than 300 ppm means its working. I emailed the company to try and get an answer about what the Co2 output per hour is. I recieved a reply saying they couldn't tell me but it converts 1lb of propane into co2 everday. I guess the next step is trying to find a conversion for how much co2 is in a lb of propane and just average it over 24hrs. I can see already one disadvantage to using this is its size. Fortunatly, I have some room to spare at the moment. However, if space is and issue for you this is not going to be a good option. I use 3 gallon pots and it takes up at least 2 spaces and its rather cumbersome to manuever around. I guess when the meters get here it will tell the story about this being worth it or not. Cost wise if it runs 20 days on a 20lb cylinder thats only 60-70 bucks for an entire grow.
Ok so Thanks to CO2 Calculator - Greentrees Hydroponics I was able to calculate that I am only going to need .27 cubic ft of co2 per hour to raise the levels to 1500 ppm assuming a baseline of 300. This mosquito magnet uses 1lb of propane everyday, so that should make 3lbs of co2 which should be, if my math is right 1.08 cubic ft of co2 per hour everyday. That would mean I am getting almost 4 times as much co2 than I need. I am forced to keep running my vent fan on a sched due to high temps (95+) so I think I should be alright. I am going to see if this thing will restart itself once the power is cut so I can put it on a timer for flowering if not I can just shut it off myself and that would put the cost for a 8 week 12 hrs cycle at around only 30 bucks!! I think this mosquito magnet might be a pretty go co2 generator. Also it only produces about 650 btu's an hour becuase it uses a catalyst system as opposed to a pilot light and burner. Can anyone give me any feed back? You think my figures are right?
So finally my Co2 testers arrived! I bought a Control Wizard syringe and test tube style tester. I went in a took a sample from the middle of the room after the fan had been off for over 10 hrs and the Mosquito Magnet had been on. It happened to be near the end of the night cycle so I would guess the reading is higher than with the lights on, because they are not using Co2 at night. I have left the mm going 24 hrs beacuse I didnt have another timer and I was waiting to see if it would even work before I went and bought one. According to the reading I got from the test tube my room was at appox. 1800-1900ppm. A little hard to tell exactly, but the blue stopped a little more than 3/4 of the way between the 1000 and the 2000 mark. I am not sure how accurate these testers really are but it seems to be working. So if you have a mosquito magnet and a little extra space, you have some make shift co2 enrichment! I am going to check it next after the light has been on 3hrs and fan has been off for an hour to kind of judge how fast it replenishes the Co2 levels.
You can add c02 but the problem is that you don't have full control of the levels and that is never good when you can't control the environment. It seems like a good idea but levels seem a bit high (above 1500 and up) which aren't exactly desired at some stages of growth. Then again, I have very little experience with c02 and this is from anecdotal studying.
That is definatly true about the control. Unless you hook the mm or a fan up to a control unit that would shut it on and off based on co2 levels you wont have a ton of control. I dont have one of those and this is kind of a use what you have experiment. The 1800-1900 reading was at the end of the night cycle so the plants had not been using any out of the room and my fan does not run during the night cycle. I would guess that if I took my reading during the daylight cycle the levels would be lower. From what I have been able to gather 1800-1900 is no more benificial than 1500 but its not into the damage range. I got another timer today and am going to hook it up so the mm only runs during the daylight cycle. I have definatly noticed a burst of growth. Tons of new growth, you would think I pumped them with steroids. I am definatly going to have to do some cutting. Going to take some clones tonight and check my co2 levels after the light has been on for a while.
it is not in the damaging range but certain stages of growth require certain levels of c02 so it is still good to know what environment your plants are in so that you don't end up stunting the growth periodically for an "unknown" reason. I'm sure it may be better than no c02 supplementation but its just another thing you have to keep an eye on
Thats definatly something to keep in mind and I plan on periodically monitoring the levels to be safe. Hopefully in a few more months I will have a proper system setup and wont have to worry about it. Thanks for the feedback.
Most likely I was actually reading an article about CO2 generators because I wanted one when I realized thats basically what mm's are. They just use a catalyst to to convert propane to co2 instead of burning it. Been a pretty fun experiment and the plants seem to be loving it.
Just used my last CO2 RAE test tube. The lights had been on for 4 hours and it had been 1 1/2 hrs since the last fan cycle and the reading I got was about 1100 ppm. Not quite the optimal 1500 but a definite booster. I am still unsure as to the accuracy of these test tube gadgets. I also have to open the door in order to test so I am sure I lose some there.
Is this what we're talking about? Carbon Dioxide Mosquito Trap From MosquitoMagnet.com - The Mosquito Magnet Patriot®
Yep thats it. I am using a Defender model though. They would be kind of expensive to go out and buy specifically for co2 gen. If I was going to spend that much just for CO2 I would do it right. I just happened to pick up two of these things off craigslist this summer for 90 bucks.
Hmm, I'm curious what the difference in output is. Sounds like the MMagnet puts out plenty, but should that be compared to a 1,2 ,4 burner generator?
I contacted the company that makes them and asked them just that. They would not tell me what the hourly output of it was. Not sure if its proprietary or they just didn't know. They did however tell me that it converts 1lb of propane into CO2. I calculated it out for my room and it came out to be too much for the size of my room. However, in actual practice it seems to keep the Co2 levels at around 1100-1200 ppm. I have no idea how it compares to the output of an actual burner other than I would assume you are going to get the same amount of CO2 per lb of propane no matter what way you use to convert it.
I have one of these and wondered for a while if it would work. I posted on here about it but didn't get much feedback. Subbed now.