CO2 from Fermentation (Sugar and Yeast)
by Mark
(North Carolina)
I have read that adding yeast and sugar will produce CO2. If so, would using a 5 gal bucket with a small air pump in it create a constant flow of CO2? I really respect your knowledge of all things hydroponic, and want to thank you for all your invaluable info. THANKS AGAIN!!
Answer: Mark- I used to have a home wine making website also, so this is a subject I know doubly well. Many wine recipes call for 5 pounds of sugar, in water, in a 5 gallon primary fermenter. As yeast consume sugar, they produce both alcohol and CO2 as waste. Unfortunately, there are several problems with trying to use this kind of CO2 for your indoor garden.
First, the CO2 system will require almost as much maintenance as your nutrient reservoir to keep everything moving smoothly. Second, the amount of CO2 produced by a 5 gallon bucket full of sugar water and yeast is not nearly as much as the amount of CO2 you actually need to bring a small 4' x 4' garden up to the ideal CO2 level (apx. 1200 to 1500 ppm). In fact, I would estimate it is about 1/5th of what you would actually need....and once you begin ventilating the grow room area to control the high temperature, your CO2 requirements go up from there.
Finally, the buckets will use up the sugar (and stop producing CO2) in about 8 to 14 days. This means you will have to empty and refill each 5 gallon bucket at least twice over the course of your flowering period. By the time you set up and maintain multiple 5 gallon buckets to meet your CO2 requirements, you will have spent around $75.00 in sugar alone (assuming sugar is $3.00 per 5 lb bag).
Now compare this to tank CO2- I have found refills online for a 20 pound tank ranging from $12.00 to $20.00. Personally, I would recommend a 35 pound tank....there is less refilling and it is large enough to handle a 4' x 8' garden without having to refill. Also, a 35 pound tank is much easier to handle and move around than a 50 pound tank when full. The cost of the tank, the pressure regulator, and the release valve/timer are all one-time expenses, just like buying 5 gallon buckets (with lids) to use as primary fermenters would be a one-time expense.
However, even at $45.00 for a 35 lb tank refill, you begin to recover your extra initial expense (compared to the sugar method) starting with the very first crop. Check around town in welding shops, fire extinguisher rechargers, and gas supply stores for the best price on a refill. For detailed information on getting your CO2 levels right, make sure to read my Plant Growth and CO2 page.
If you decide to try the fermentation method, you will need to sterilize the sugar water with Campden tablets 24 hours before you add the yeast. This kills any bacteria in the solution. This is important because bacteria will consume any alcohol present and will leave behind vinegar. It is likely to also produce a horrible smell and to stop your CO2 production. For this reason, you will want to use a tight fitting lid on each 5 gallon bucket. For the same reason, you will NOT want to place an air bubbler into the fermenter....as CO2 is produced by the yeast, gas pressure will build up and naturally push the CO2 gas out through an airlock in the top of each lid (p.s.- you will need airlocks).
Just one final piece of advice- I only recommend adding CO2 to a garden if your garden is already problem free and producing good results. If there are problems in your garden, or any of the growth influencing factors are not in their ideal range, than adding CO2 will not fix the problem and it is likely that you will not notice the benefits of adding the CO2. Hope this helps you out Mark, and Happy Growing!
Comments for CO2 from Fermentation (Sugar and Yeast)
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AffordableGarden Design&Setup
Hi everyone, Jason from Jason's Indoor Guide here. When I got started with hydroponic gardening more than 24 years ago, my first garden used rockwool cubes and B.C. Nutrients....and I remember thinking to myself yeah, sure, there may be a lot of advantages to gardening with hydroponics, for example there are very few pest problems, therefore very little pest control, no weeding, no plowing or tilling the soil, no soil testing or having to add things into the garden soil, no watering the garden....but for someone who just wants to grow their own vegetables and have more control over their food supply and the quality of the food that they eat, the cost of constantly having to buy grow media and hydroponic nutrients makes this an expensive hobby for most people...
Epic Nutrient Change
I suppose when you take into consideration how much money you save NOT
having to buy food at the grocery store, it is surely cheaper to grow
your own food hydroponically even with the cost of high quality
nutrients. Nevertheless, I didn't have a whole lot of money to work with
and I needed to make my efforts as affordable and effective as
possible....and in the last 24 years I HAVE learned a thing or two!
As you browse through Jason's Indoor Guide, you will notice all of the
systems that I use personally are homemade systems. As I got 3 or 4
years of experience under my belt, I quickly adopted a preference to
standing water systems and systems that use expanded clay pellets or
lava rock, because the media is re-usable and it eliminates a huge
operating expense. So once a hydroponic system is built, garden
maintenance is minimal- check and adjust the nutrient solution daily,
and to change it completely every 2 weeks....and the biggest operating
cost is the hydroponic nutrients. (and the electric bill, lol)...
Homemade Cloner
And, regarding the cost of the nutrients....I experimented for about 3 years with making different compost teas and nutrient teas, but there is still a lot of expense $$$ associated with making high quality nutrient teas....like kelp meal, liquid seaweed, rock dust, bat guano, un-Sulfured molasses, worm castings. You can eliminate a lot of this expense by becoming an expert at making high-quality colloidal humus compost, and use your properly made compost as the basis of your hydroponic nutrient solution.
Unfortunately, I have been gardening for over 24 years and I have only
just recently mastered this difficult skill....and even then, only
because I happened to find a very easy to follow, high quality technique
and decided to follow the instructions to the letter. I produced more
high quality compost in just one week than I was able to use in a whole
year! If you can master the technique, I highly recommend it. It is one of the top 3 things you can do to
increase the productivity of your food production efforts, while at the
same time decreasing the amount of effort required to grow all of your
own food, and decreasing the total cost of operating your food
production system.
And when I say decrease operating costs, I mean decrease them to almost
ZERO, especially if you are producing your own nutrients...
High Efficiency
Hydroponics
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients: Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy any nutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does not require you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and no effort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus, at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your garden vegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system--->
Aquaponics
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producing all of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimate solution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the total amount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of your gardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it is the perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponics is one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your garden productivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. The product that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you. With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came across the Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something very special! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead of grow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
